Under American Skies

Urban Furniture, San Francisco

2012-01-20T18:35:00.000-08:00

We finally got some good hard rain this afternoon here in the Bay Area (and continuing now too) so I had an opportunity to shelter under the Muni roof at the Ball Park platform. I think last year I always walked over to BART so I never noticed this but this year I guess I'm getting soft and waiting for the train. When you spend some time waiting for a mass transit conveyance you start to learn some things. Today I learned about the overhead shelters.

These have undulating wavelike roofs over some parts of the platform. Each dip in the wave dumps it's contents towards the tracks. When the train came up and I had to step out of the shelter, I found that this flood was directed straight towards the car door. And looking down the platform, the next car door also had a perfectly aligned roof dip as well.

Is this some kind of convergent evolution where the train designers and the platform architects had arrived on the same spacing to ensure dumping the rain into each car door? Only future paleo's can tell.

For now, I'm home, it's raining like hell outside and glad to hear it. Maybe push the button on the fireplace remote and snuggle inside. Regards.

Advertising

2012-01-16T15:41:00.000-08:00

In my Internet email I get advertising for a lot of different things, like in these categories:

Credit cards
DUI defense
Health Insurance
Replacement windows
Credit scores
Free auto repairs
Free movies, cheap Internet
Printer ink and toner
Cheap Tektronix parts and service (OK, that's maybe just me)

The most frequent is for the various Internet providers. And they really want me to sign up so they can sell me more advertising. Does this make any sense? It's like a perpetual motion machine. I get the internet and read the ads and buy another internet provider and read their ads and around and around. What we used to call "over unity". There are plenty of sites about that if you want to use a favorite search site.

But can we really run an economy this way? I have long suspected that advertising is the only industry that the U.S. is good at, but can I really eat it for dinner?

Foodies!

2012-01-14T11:36:00.000-08:00

The paper today has a story about a cruise liner that hit a rock and capsized off of Tuscany. I don't need to tell you which country that is in because we all know it's about Italy and food. Certainly a scary experience and sad for the tourists that were killed but I can't get over that the story had to include the details of the food being eaten when the shudder and crash were felt by the diners.

Hammer, 65, told The Associated Press that she was eating her first course, an appetizer of cuttlefish, sauteed mushrooms and salad, on her first night aboard her first-ever cruise, which was a gift to her and her husband, Gert, from her local church where she volunteers.

As in: "Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?"

I'm glad the the locals on the small island opened up their homes and basically every building they had to take in the survivors. I would want to come back again in the daytime and thank my rescuers, maybe a year or so later. Perhaps with a bit more garlic this time.

Political Logos

2012-01-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

I ran into this article regarding the logos used by Egyptian political parties for the recent voting. In many countries with less than literate populations logos are a common way to pick a candidate on the ballot. Or maybe I should say in countries with less TV manipulated political news. Can we in the U.S. even imagine politics without TV ads? I don't think so, maybe we would need to actually read something.

What's the fun of that? The way we do it is to watch 20 seconds of Rich somebody getting booed off the stage without ever hearing why. These are the guys we are choosing to launch the missiles?

If I was Egyptian I would vote for the party with the stove logo. I will always support dinner getting ready.

Netflix, 2 billion hours

2012-01-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

This company, on the ropes a few weeks ago with incredibly bone headed marketing moves, like raising prices and spitting off a major part of it's business under another name, is back big time after announcing astounding sales of 2 billion hours of movies streamed in the last quarter.

A number like that just needs to get dissected. I'm no Marcus (mkaz.com) but let me give it a try.

2 billion hours/40 hours per standard work week = 50 million work weeks

if a quarter is 4 weeks per month times 3 months thats 12 weeks which leads to

50 million weeks/12 = 417,000 quarters of standard hours watching movies

According to the CIA factbook there are about 140 million employed workers in the U.S.A. So they would have had 140 million * 40 hours * 12 weeks gives 67.2 billion hours of work time for the quarter.

So (tah dah!) 67 billion/2 billion is about 3.3% of time wasted watching movies from just this one source. Which from my experience is the main source of movie watching in a typical office. These days when you walk around there are so many people hunched over their i/android phones that it's not even funny. And since it's not tracked on the corporate network it's all free game.

And we are wondering about productivity? Maybe the reason India/El Salvador/Vietnam etc are so productive is that they don't have any internet for most of the country. My new pack of underwear that I bought Saturday at Walmart for $7 was made in El Salvador and good quality too.

I this really the way it is?

2012-01-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

I was vaguely missing some this morning and it just occurred to me. Where's the Rose Parade? It's usually on a couple of TV channels, at least it seems like it but nothing this morning. In a bit of a panic, thought I might have missed it, I looked up the schedule. What a let down, this year's parade is on January 2nd. What's with that?

According to their web site. "The 123rd Rose Parade presented by Honda themed “Just Imagine...” will take place on Monday, January 2, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. (PST) featuring..." They claim that it's a tradition not to have the parade on Sunday. Like a tradition ever since the BCS football cartel has moved around the bowl games to different days to maximize the profit? And the game has to be on the same day as the parade right?

Maybe I'm still bitter from the time I was 10 years old, in Pasadena with reserved seats and I couldn't go to the the parade cause I had the measles. Watched it on TV up in the Hollywood hills at my Dad's friend's place. At least I didn't crash a bike and almost kill myself like my brother who was trying out the speed potential of the hill where we were staying. Kind of an eventful weekend, even leaving out the "cousin" cutting off the tip of her finger using a wood chisel to trim the ribbon on a package she was wrapping.

Does everything need to be "presented by" some corporation? I should have signed up a kid or two to be presented by Pampers! Hopefully could have saved some cash.

Where can I?

2011-12-29T17:11:00.000-08:00

Get glaucoma? That seems to be one easy way to get a med-weed card. Can I just claim it or is there an available ersatz doc around that can see me? I can feel it coming on... My eyesight isn't what it once never was so why should I wait? Give it to me now! I promise that I won't drive, can't see at night anyway, and in fact I'll not leave the house. I hear these clubs are now delivering.

I wonder though that if I call the pot club for a delivery, will they then have the pizza guy call me a while later with a special? That would be a real business model. Joe's pot and pizza. Get me an angel investor and we will get rich. The pizza can just be cheap crap since once the stoner devours it he won't remember anyway. Call 1-800-give-me your money for details on your own franchise.

Remember, if you dig a hole big enough, they will jump into it!

Soup with meat

2011-12-28T19:24:00.000-08:00

I've been reading Mandela's biography "Long Walk to Freedom" and it's been a continuing source of inspiration. In 1955 the Congress of the People was formed that included Black, Indian, Coloured and White groups. This was a very early attempt to fight back against the white government's oppression. (which was to get much worse as time went on) Their founding meeting was broken up by the authorities and in the chaos the police even took the signs directing delegates to the meals appropriate to their cultures. They said:

Soup with Meat
Soup without Meat

Almost two years later, in January 1957, these signs were entered as evidence in the trial of Mandela and the ANC leadership on charges of treason. They all were released this time but were caught up again later. The signs were supposed to be evidence of the attempt by the group to break up the country into dissident groups and thus overthrow the ruling powers.

To me, the confiscation of the signs are clear evidence of an insecure paranoid organization that was making sure that no one had any independent (hence dangerous) thoughts. Since an organization like this has no rational argument to justify it's defensive behavior it reacts by lashing out at anything different from itself. I think you can see this happening around the world all the time. Too bad we all can't do better.

Superficial glitter?

2011-12-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI decried the increasing commercialization of Christmas as he celebrated Christmas Eve Mass on Saturday night, urging the faithful to look beyond the holiday's "superficial glitter" to discover its true meaning.

Benedict presided over the service in a packed St. Peter's Basilica, kicking off an intense two weeks of Christmas-related public appearances that will test the 84-year-old pontiff's stamina amid signs that fatigue is starting to slow him down.

Huh? I guess he's more comfortable with the real glitter that is St. Peter's in Rome. Gold and marble everywhere, not superficial at all. It's realficial.

I know the pope is stuck between years of history and layers of bureaucracy, but who decided what year everything had to be stuck and never changed again. Wouldn't it be cool to see him wearing a t-shirt? Like maybe "I'm the Pope." lettered on the front. Or how about "Jesus Rules and I'm with Him"?

Merry Christmas everyone!

From the front

2011-12-24T07:59:00.001-08:00

Please contact me if you haven't received your key(s) yet. Message follows:

Fb Wbfrcu nyfb jrag hc sebz gur gbja bs Anmnergu va Tnyvyrr gb Whqrn, gb Orguyrurz gur gbja bs Qnivq, orpnhfr ur orybatrq gb gur ubhfr naq yvar bs Qnivq. Ur jrag gurer gb ertvfgre jvgu Znel, jub jnf cyrqtrq gb or zneevrq gb uvz naq jnf rkcrpgvat n puvyq

Merry Christmas to all.

Silver Bells

2011-12-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

Well, not really but a memorable Christmas memory anyway. Someone had dumped a bunch of popcorn, like a couple tubs worth, at the fare gates in the Bart station yesterday. Didn't slow us herd of commuters much but a different feeling underfoot. The poor guy with a broom looked pretty overwhelmed, the agent sat in her cube ignoring everything as usual.

The trouble with popcorn in this situation is that it gets more and more finely ground and harder to pick up. I can only wonder who had it and how it dropped? Reminds me of a memory from years ago, you remember bean bag chairs? On Locust street, in front of the plastics store I watched a guy try to shove a plastic bag of beans into the passenger seat of his small British sports convertible. MGB perhaps?

The bag broke and the beans filled up the cabin to the top of the doors. As it was starting to spill over and blow away I continued my stroll down the street.

PDT 11/150 and kids

2011-12-12T17:17:00.000-08:00

Look at these cute kids, what's not to love. But this picture caught my eye for another reason. A couple vintage computer items that I've long lost. Picture circa 1987.

On the left, a H19 Heathkit terminal that I built from a kit. Next to that a VT100 with a modem on top, Racal? On the far right my beloved PDT 11/150. Two 8 inch floppy drives that made a horrible clatter in operation.

To complete the story, I paid $500 for the H19 kit, bought at the store on Middlefield Road in Menlo Park, CA. The Vt100 was a loaner from my then current employer, Relational Technology Inc, makers of Ingres. The PDT was free from my local DEC sales guy, but I paid another $500 for the UCSD P-system to run it.

For those of you who would like to grab this stuff, sorry too late. I sold it all for a couple years later for $40. The kids are all mine, no matter how grown up they are.

Patty Dunn

2011-12-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

Dead today at age 58. You may have heard bad about her in relation to various HP scandals but I knew her different. When she was our President at Wells Fargo Nikko Investment advisors I couldn't have been treated better. I was the guy who showed up to look at her VAX station and crawl under the desk to check the cables.

In the few meetings that we were both in, she treated us all with respect and listened to what was being said. She started as a clerk/typist at Wells and her obvious talent took her to the top. Rest in peace, Patty.

The news sources have always labeled her as Patricia, she will always be Patty to me.

Vettel wins F1 championship though Weber takes Brazil

2011-11-27T09:58:00.000-08:00

The points race was over a couple races ago but I'm sure Vettel wanted this last victory of the season. However, plagued by transmission problems the team waved Weber into the lead about halfway through the race. Vettel still got second and thoroughly enjoyed his romp on the podium and his well deserved second championship.

Red Bull racing seems to have come from nowhere to suddenly arrive at the top, but in fact it's been a steady climb starting in 2005. That's when the drink company purchased the remains of Jaguar racing from Ford for a symbolic $1. Each year, the cars were better and better until 2010 when they won their first championship.

To my mind the season was marred by the recent addition of 4 new synthetic tracks. China, Korea, India, and Abu Dhabi are lifeless fakes with few spectators. The joke this year regarding the Korea facility was that when the teams arrived this year it looked like after last years race everyone had just left. There was supposedly food still in the fridge leftover from the year before. The location in India was blanketed with smog from nearby Mumbai. I wonder how they got the cows out of the infield?

Bahrain's race was mercifully killed off due to civil unrest. Ecclestone commented about the prospects for the new Austin, TX race as being hampered by "No track and no money". At least I think that's what he said, Bernie was turning away from the camera at the time.

Mogashshu

2011-11-26T16:44:00.000-08:00

Hitting the beach in Mogadishu after Islamist withdrawal

By Mohamed Moalimu BBC Africa, Mogadishu

For the first time in years, Lido beach in Somalia's war-town capital, Mogadishu, is packed on Fridays - a day of rest in the Muslim country - as families take advantage of the improved security to enjoy themselves.

It is a sign of the cautious optimism that has gripped Mogadishu since the militant Islamist group al-Shabab announced a "tactical withdrawal" from the city in August, following fierce battles with the 9,000-strong African Union (AU) force and government troops.

Since taking control of most of the city, which has been devastated by more than two decades of conflict, the AU and the weak interim government have been waging a publicity campaign to urge residents to resume their normal lives.

When I visited the beach, hundreds of people were there, playing, swimming or watching a basketball game at a nearby stadium.

“Start Quote

My house was partially destroyed during the fighting but I am going to repair it”

End Quote Ahmed Mohamud Mogadishu resident

"I'm very happy to be here and I say: 'congratulations to my country', one reveller, Mustafa Abdullahi, said.

Living in Sweden, Mr Abdullahi was visiting his family in Mogadishu.

"My father is sick but he used to advise me not to come. Now that the situation seems to be improving I decided to come," he said.

Somalia's Defence Minister Hussein Arab Isse - who is also one of three deputy prime ministers - was at the basketball game.

"It is a truly unbelievable feeling for me to be here, in the middle of Mogadishu, to witness this event," he told the BBC.

The optimism is found across Mogadishu, with aid workers estimating that 300,000 people previously displaced by the conflict have returned to their homes in recent months.

The city has also seen an influx of people who fled the famine in al-Shabab controlled areas of the south, resulting in more foreign aid workers - including those from Turkey - basing themselves in Mogadishu.

Door-to-door salesmen

Residents are renovating bullet-riddled homes and getting together to clean roads and prune overgrown trees.

"Thanks to Allah and those who allowed us to come back," said Ahmed Mohamud, a resident of Bondhere district, who had rented a house elsewhere during the conflict.

"My house was partially destroyed during the fighting but I am going to repair it."

Two decades of conflict has destroyed many buildings in Mogadishu

This has led to a boom in business, with water and electricity companies sending representatives door-to-door to sign up new customers.

Some people - like Amina Hassan, a mother of five - cannot afford to renovate her home, but she is determined to live in it.

"I am struggling, but we are so happy to return to our house," she said.

"Step-by-step, things will improve, if peace is gained."

Mogadishu: Perpetual war zone

1990: Rebel forces enter
1991: President Siad Barre flees
1992: UN peacekeepers deployed
1993: Peacekeepers withdraw after US and Pakistani soldiers killed
Control of city divided between rival warlords
2006: Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) takes power
Ethiopian troops enter later in the year to overthrow UIC
2007: African Union (AU) force deployed
2009: Ethiopian troops withdraw
August 2011: Al-Shabab announces "tactical withdrawal"

Mogadishu's two biggest markets - Bakara and Suq Bacaad, once shelled and bombed - are also bustling, with shops and stalls reopening.

"Fighting crippled our business in the last few years but now it seems to be reviving," said Suq Bacaad trader Hasan Ahmed.

The government has opened a police station in the market, while troops also patrol the area.

But with al-Shabab - estimated to have between 7,000 and 10,000 fighters - still in tact, Mr Ahmed does not rule out conflict erupting again.

"It depends how the government manages security," he told the BBC.

With the government having no proper army or police force, it is almost entirely dependent on AU troops to hold on to the territory it controls.

AU commanders say they need 20,000 soldiers to secure the city - more than double their current complement of 9,000.

The troops are from Uganda and Burundi, with other countries having failed, over the years, to fulfil promises to bolster the force.

Cycling

In the latest promise, neighbouring Djibouti and the West African state of Sierra Leone have offered to send 3,000 troops by the end of the year, while Kenya - which launched military action in al-Shabab's southern strongholds last month - says it is also prepared to contribute to the AU force.

Al-Shabab controls most southern areas outside Mogadishu

"In case a request is made, Kenya will avail a few of its battalions [made up of about 1,000 soldiers each] to join Uganda, Burundi and Djibouti to help keep the peace in Somalia," Kenya's Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula told the BBC.

Since announcing its "tactical withdrawal", al-Shabab has carried out two major suicide bombings in Mogadishu, killing more than 60 people.

The attacks suggest that while al-Shabab is no longer prepared to clash with the better armed AU and government forces, it is continuing to wage guerrilla warfare in the city.

One of the explosions took place last month at the busy Kilometre Four crossroads.

Despite this, a few weeks ago, I spotted a Turkish aid worker cycling there - a highly unusual sight in Mogadishu.

He may have been foolish, but it showed that Mogadishu is, for now, mostly peaceful.

giblet gravy

2011-11-26T16:40:00.000-08:00

While the turkey is roasting, rinse the giblets and neck and simmer in salted water about 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until tender, adding the liver the last 30 minutes. Save the broth. Remove the meat from the neck and chop fine along with giblets to use in making the gravy.

To make lump free gravy, pour 1 cup of cold milk into a jar that has a tight lid. Add 1/2 cup of flour on top of the milk, cover quickly and shake well to smooth mixture of the milk and flour.

Use the broth from the giblets and enough milk to make 3 cups of liquid. Pour into roasting pan, heat and scrape the loosen brown bits. Slowly add flour mixture. Add salt and pepper. Stir and cook until thickened. Add chopped giblets and heat to serve.

Still employed

2011-11-21T18:15:00.000-08:00

At least for today. My management, who are remaining and wondering about their own role still cannot answer the simplest questions. Like what's happening tomorrow?

It was weird going to the hotel in a black Bauer van, lots of jokes about gas chambers and such. Even in a very plush van. On the way back to the office, one of our crowd asked for some music. The result was a blasting Mexican polka, and hilarious bursts from us all. Not sure why, maybe because our status would soon be in that demographic.

Today's the day

2011-11-21T05:14:00.000-08:00

I get fired or not. Should I do my normal duties or just sit around and wait for it? Then let them figure out what needs doing? I think I'll do the minimum to keep some customers happy that I've grown to like.

If any management types show up, I'll pose the yearly question. When do we print the statements? Normally done on Thursday, but that will be thanksgiving (for what?) I'll let the new masters try to figure that out. It will be Wednesday but it will be fun to watch them spin around and try to figure it out.

Wish me luck.

I just got outsourced

2011-11-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

Yes siree bob! They call us into a meeting on Wednesday after lunch which consisted of "Please report downstairs to the shuttle bus". On the bus, we were taken a few blocks away to a local hotel and led up to a meeting room.

Oh boy, the same old crap. Leverage, synergy, blah, blah, blah... I can't even begin to remember the buzz. It's all good, the future is bright and even if you don't keep your job it's all good. Gag me with a spoon as the punks used to say. ( think it's actually a Zappa lyric ). Then yesterday I had my interview for to keep my own job that I just got a top rating in the annual review. Gag me again.

I'd like to keep my job, if nothing else just to prove I can. Unfortunately, this company just helped us through a major upgrade of their product that featured a four month delay and then two full days of downtime this week. Microsoft based and dependable as windows. No understanding of version compatibility, just do the upgrade and suffer. I'm only now hearing how the Doc's are so pissed off in the field.

It seems the MD's are in the habit of putting a book on the space bar of their PC to keep from getting timed out of the session and having to go through the laborious (and error prone) process of logging in again. In one reported incident, a Doc was so frustrated that he took his stapler and slammed it down onto the keyboard and left the room. Our guy on site was advised to "just leave' by a staff member.

So Monday I get to find out if I can keep my job under the new regime. As I said, I'd like to keep it so I can quit on my own. The transition period is until January 1st. Then as I hear it, they will lower my salary and keep me or fire me anyway. After making me train my replacement over these next two months.

From Frank Zappa's Valley Girl

Encino is like so bitchen
There's like the galleria
And like all these like really great shoe stores
I love going into like clothing stores and stuff
I like buy the neatest mini-skirts and stuff
Its like so bitchen cuz like everybodys like
Super-super nice...
Its like so bitchen...
...
Its like barf me out...
Gag me with a spoon!

Whoo hoo! (my addition)

What I want to do

2011-11-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

This week, my family left town and went to Dallas. Why? I could never understand why anyone would go to Dallas but there it is. I figured I would be all set with setting my own schedule (except for work of course) and enjoying my own time off with complete control of the TV clicker.

Sitting here tonight after a week of "complete control" I realize what a joke it is. I have been free to check out any TV channel I want, even NASCAR !. But guess what, these channels are not sending to me what I want, they are sending to me what they want to send to me. I can only choose between different imposed messages.

So my TV choices are not about what I want at all. They are merely choices between different things someone has created to send to me. If I choose ESPN then Coors sends me their message, if I choose monster truck racing then some shock company sends their message. It's making my head explode!

I've got to get out of this culture. What can I do for myself that is not directed by one of these companies? I've got to think on this one, I've got to get free.

Third worldification

2011-11-01T21:58:00.000-07:00

Another sighting in the heart of suburbia.

I was sort of astounded this afternoon while parking at Trader Joe's (picture wide open expanses of asphalt) to see a man methodically working his way from tree to tree in the lot. I wondered, what the heck was he doing? Upon observation, I realized he was picking olives.

Those small decorative trees that the architect had specified between the rows were actually olive trees. My mind flashed back a couple hundred years to when the Spanish settlers had planted olives, some of those old trees were still producing. Yeah, but now it's the 21st century, and who knows what to do with olives picked raw like that anyway. There's a whole brine process involved to make them become what we think of as fit for eating.

When I lived in West Africa it was no surprise to see women gathering food (giant snails) in vacant grassy lots downtown. But this is not Africa, it's Walnut Creek for goodness sake! But we have people living in the interstices that have brought with them the knowledge to gather and process wild food and will do it no matter what the context. I guess the 21st century context doesn't really matter if your attitude is to see food and go get it. Doesn't he care about the Greek debt crisis?

Why do I care about Greece?

2011-10-05T05:50:00.000-07:00

I see on the news this morning that in Greece there is (another) general strike protesting the cuts the government is making. The cuts are being made based on demands that the Greek government reduce spending in return for bailout money from other EU countries to try to prop up their banking system.

That's all sort of fancy talk, what has really happened? Greece joined the EU a while ago and started using the euro for it's currency (2002). Meanwhile the Greek government was running up huge deficits for salaries and pensions for civil servants, meaning government workers and everyone else under the sun. Being a Euro based economy meant that getting loans was easy. Now it's time to pay off the debt, and there isn't any money to do that. The EU has promised to pay off and delay some of the debt payments if Greece gets it's budget more in balance. These cuts are effecting Greeks who have become entitled to the money that's been coming in, so they are going on strike.

On the one hand, the ordinary Greek citizen that has been receiving government money feels put upon when it gets reduced. On the other hand the Greek government has been giving out money like crazy to get reelected and keep the citizens contented. The first round of cuts was May 2010 and now we're right back in the same place.

So who's to blame? The government that gave out the money or the citizens that demanded it? It's bread and circuses all over again. As the ancient Roman emperors had to support huge bakeries to supply the bread and put on the spectacular shows to entertain the masses, the modern politicians are also giving out the money and the citizens are demanding it in return for political support.

It doesn't look to me like this is a supportable system. Unfortunately for the Greek workers, the bankers keep good books. If the money was lent out, then they want it back. The bankers of the bankers will keep demanding the money back even if there is none. At this point the bankers need to be convinced that they can't get their money back without destroying the system. They will have to take a loss and it will have to be painful if the ordinary Greeks are willing to put up with their own pain.

Spending public money

2011-07-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

You know what really gets me, when a government agency (or charity) that has been pleading for funds gets a new makeover. In Contra Costa County, the animal services agency is always after money. Used to be known as the pound. I drove by there last Saturday and there were a bunch of new flags hanging off the light poles. Labeled "Animal Services". This is not like a place where people driving by will see the signs and get in to donate. There are very few passerbys, this is across the street from the sewage plant after all, out in northern Contra Costa county at the end of the creeks that go into the bay.

If you want to donate, please check here. The shelter does good work, no doubt but I wonder. When I drive by on Saturday morning, the most striking feature is the "night depository". Like for a bank I guess where you can drop off a bag into a secure place. But is this case, it's a wall of stainless steel doors of various sizes. I guess for the cat, a small door will do. "See you later fluffy!" as you slam the door behind her. For the larger doors maybe you will be hoisting the big galoot in and hoping he's too tired to care. "Later, Adoph!"

The numbers for the shelter are really disturbing. So many killed and few saved. Total intake last year 15596. Returned to owner 2065. Killed 15442. These are listed as owner/guardian requested but I think if there is no guardian then the county becomes the guardian and requests the kill.

I guess the most disturbing thing is the bright new flags in front of this house of death. I don't see any point in it, but I may be wrong since Maddie's fund is throwing around money right and left to shelters. But I must say, a flag never saved a puppy or kitten at least that I know of.

Walk for this and that

2011-07-17T16:01:00.001-07:00

I was out on my bike yesterday after a long time but it felt good. Along the canal trail I expect kids and dogs and strollers and the usual congestion of a Saturday morning and I'm OK with that. This time there were some signs along the way that said something like: Walk with Jerry for... well, something.

I was wondering if Jerry Lewis had a new thing going or what. There were a few people in yellow tee shirts with similar slogans at the intersections but they weren't doing much. In fact I startled a young girl along the path as I went by. Something enthralling on the iphone it seems.

I went out to my usual turn around and then came back the other way. Now there were bunches of these folks coming towards me. Some like the picture above, carrying jerry cans. Huh?

Their route on the path was just a couple blocks so I was soon clear of them. Except the professional looking photographer who was standing in the middle of the path with her back to me taking a shot of the oncoming walkers. Hello! Not a good idea to have you back to traffic leaning down and sticking your butt out to get the shot for your client! I yelled at her as I went by.

When I got home, I looked it up and it seems this group is raising money for clean water in Africa. That's a pretty good cause, but not always a good use of your money. The best thing they can do is a simple well, with a hand pump that provides clean water. Some of these overly ambitious water projects that use an electric pump with no certain source of the power are just a big boondoggle.

The jerry can idea is based on the fact that often these plastic containers are often used in Africa to transport water and not just in rural areas. Seems a little weird to me to carry an empty can for a couple miles in suburban California to collect some money. How about the African who gets out there with a 20l plastic jerry can full of water to bring back to the house when you're a 12 year old girl? That's the reality, and then wash the clothes when you get home.

It might be simpler to just find the right charity and give them some money. Except in this world of donor fatigue (yes, that's a word) charities need to come up with new gimmicks all the time. I wonder is we can come up with a simpler way?

Harrison Street

2011-05-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Maybe named after President Harris but considered more likely to commemorate Henry A. Harrison, who was a member of the Ayuntamiento, or Town Council, in 1849-50, and a member of the pioneer mercantile firm of DeWitt & Harrison.

The city directory of 1850 lists:

Harrison, Henry A., of Dewitt & Harrison, com. merchant, San b P and Bdway .

The second street is most probably Broadway, but what's San b p? I'm guessing Sansome, since between the current Broadway tunnel and what was then the shoreline that's the only street name at all close. Also the advertisement mentioned here from the "Alta California" in 1849 lists photographic equipment for sale at the store on Sansome street.

The store is also mentioned as being in operation in 1848 in a nearly deserted city. More mention of Dewitt here than Harrison however, but the scene of a town developing into a city is quite compelling. In 1899 Dewitt's obituary ran in the New York times and listed Harrison as a "business friend".

In this transcript of an oral history interview Harrison is mentioned only is passing as having "died or something" after the store was founded and a Mr. Kittle took over as partner. This link to a New York historical society newsletter lists the store address more exactly at 187 Sansome street which would put it at Pine street. That sounds more like where the city was at that time, I wonder if the numbering system changed along the way? And sure enough, in 1861 the numbers were redone starting everything at Market street and heading north and south from there. Now again, looking at other addresses in the guide, I think the store address can be decoded as Sansome, between Broadway and Pine.

Harrison street is another of those SOMA routes that takes a big bend southward after crossing Tenth street and peters out in Bernal heights. Not much in the way of restaurants or entertainment listed on Harrison, but I can recommend the (relatively) cheap and convenient parking lots between Bryant and Harrison at Second street, under the freeway. Noisy but dry enough to provide a bedroom for the two to four vagrants that I walk by every morning.

Bryant Street

2011-05-07T18:55:00.000-07:00

To my point of view the first of the real SOMA streets, it's south of the freeway, at the top of Rincon hill and the beginning of the downward slide to the bay. Named for Edwin Bryant an early settler and newspaperman. He came across the plains from Independence, Missouri in 1846 as a Second Lieutenant in John Fremont’s expedition. (more about Fremont when we get to his street). Appointed the successor of Washington A. Bartlett as the second American Alcalde in February 1847.

As Alcalde he started the layout of the city grid with Montgomery street along the waterfront. Today's is quite a bit inland but still historic what with being my preferred BART station and all. The next Alcalde George Hyde had all the lots surveyed and then sold off over the next few months.

After his California adventure, Bryant returned to the "East". There he wrote and published "What I saw in California". Bryant's book describing his journey and California became the guide for the later Argonauts (gold seekers) who traveled the overland route and was updated with maps and mining information by the publishers. It makes for very interesting reading today when the landscape he described has mostly disappeared. Elk in Elk Grove? Today only in the name.

For me personally, Bryant street is where my Dad had his own business. Known as Power Mac supposedly because the lawyer that was registering the name had abbreviated Power Machinery on his notepad it was a great joy to us kids and sometimes more of a worry to Father. The address was 1999 Bryant which is way out west almost under highway 101. There is still some state money there to be claimed if you can prove you are owed it.

Dirty Harry had a scene or two on Bryant street since the county (city) jail is there. Whoops! Should have been termed the Hall of Justice. "Do you feel lucky?"

Here's a 1906 earthquake photo between Bryant and Brannan.

South Park, the real park.

2011-04-08T19:32:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived in the SOMA scene in 2000 this was still a pretty disreputable area that had started out with gold rush bravado, gone along and then way down and was climbing back up. Laid out between 2nd, 3rd and Bryant and Brannan streets in 1857 it's now a techy millionare dream with houses going for prices above the clouds. I can't really include any links here because they will all be broken so soon. One ad I found described "South Park, a lush green park encircled with interior designer showrooms, boutique shops, notable restaurants and cafes." Perhaps the usual realtor hyperbole but certainly more promising than just a few years ago.

Originally developed in 1865 as an American version of the English crescent it briefly flourished as desirable real estate but industrial development and the influx of foreigners and working people (for God's sake) doomed the location to tenement housing and factories.

George Gordon, the original developer of South Park was in Philadelphia when Brannan declared "Gold, gold" but soon came out west with two groups of adventurers, one by ship and a second land party to prepare the way to Eldorado. They never really managed to meet up as promised since things had changed to much while they were on the way over.

Gordon died in 1869 and is celebrated in one of the curiously dense obituaries typical of the time. One cause of death being "excessive labor".

These days besides the park which is pretty well kept despite the amazingly high dog population there are several notable restaurants and meeting places. I have no actual knowledge of these only that I walk by them everday. There's:

California Grilled Cheese Kitchen - which you can look up since I refuse to link to yelp and similar. I guess that's what the sell, I do know that the guy who hoses off the sidewalk every morning is not that considerate of walkers like me.
21st Amendment - which I will link to despite annoying flash page. Real beer actually made here, I've watched the grain trucks blow their load up to the bins on the roof in the early morning. Right across 2nd street from the above.
South Park Cafe - supposed to be good, it's right at the actual park.

Of these three above web sites all are just wrong in so many ways. But that's what this area is, a web driven economy that thinks twitter etc is the new gold rush. But maybe they're right, Twitter's main office it right near here too. Working to destroy the world at just a 140 characters at a time.

Brannan Street

2011-03-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

Sam Brannan came out to San Francisco in 1846 with a shipload of Mormons. Two years later, on May 12, 1848 he ran through the streets waving a vial of gold dust and crying "Gold! Gold! Gold on the American River". In those two years he had founded a newspaper, The California Star, several stores, and also ran the Mormon community and extracted tithes from them, a real operator. As his wealth soared, from Utah, Brigham Young requested that Brannan in his turn submit his tithe to the church. Brannan demanded a receipt signed by God and was soon out of the Church.

The rush was really on now with Brannan's store in Sacramento perfectly located and stocked with the necessities of mining. Real estate investments in San Francisco also proved lucrative with Brannan supposedly owning a large percent of the city. As a sideline he imported grape stock and tried to start a resort in Calistoga that was not so successful. As his wealth was lost, including a supposed $500,000 payoff to Lola Montez his health failed and he died later in San Diego.

What's Brannan street doing these days? Still home to the wholesale flower market (at Sixth Street) , a Post Office renowned for it's slow service (between 3rd an 4th) and the location of Jack London's birthplace (at Third), now unfortunately an ugly condo building.

Check out this map from1847 where Brannan's house (marked as number 10) is shown as one of the largest buildings in the city. Walking home I usually cut through an alley that comes out right next to cotweet. One of several local web companies cashing in on (what I consider) tweeting idiots, but others consider as the wave of the future, or for at least a year or two.

Townsend Street

2011-03-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

Named after Dr. John Townsend, pioneer physician. There's a couple of plaques in the sidewalk at the east end of the street where it intersects the Embarcadero. One mentions the Doctor as being in the first wagon train to travel over the Sierra Nevada mountains and they arrived with 52 persons after leaving Council Bluffs, Iowa with only 50, two were born along the way. (same route was made famous two years later by the ill fated Donner party).

One of the plaques references a Gold Rush era sign that was discovered at that spot reading something like: "There will be cholera here". In 1848 Townsend was appointed Alcalde (mayor) with the task of civilizing a town described with "bloody street fights were of a daily occurrence". Townsend only served a few months before running off to the gold fields with most of the rest of the city. Upon his return he resumed doctoring until he and his wife both died in 1850 from cholera while treating victims in San Jose. His grave marker in San Jose is pictured above.

The street is lined with historic brick warehouse buildings and reproductions too. For example, 178 Townsend, just about across the street from my office is a notable example of reusing/preserving one of the local historic brick buildings. It seems pretty far to go to build an entire new building inside the brick shell just to keep the facade. But keep in mind this is the city that spent $34 million to rebuild a draw bridge to look exactly as before while strengthening it to carry streetcars. This included a fiberglass fake counterweight produced with help from those masters of fakery, the Disney company. Two blocks south of Townsend on Fourth street.

More recently, Townsend street is filled with sorrow. A couple weeks ago my company's payroll manager, which everyone loved, including me, was crushed to death by a concrete pumping truck turning left and catching her in the crosswalk. One of the trucks that was working on the 178 Townsend project. It's certainly a shock and I avoid that intersection or at least that crosswalk. The dear old lady was a widow living with her daughter just a couple blocks away on Brannon street. At 8:45 am she was crossing Second Street at Townsend on the way to work where she had never missed a day in how many years and the truck turned and she was gone. Not immediately since the fire department headquarters is on that corner so she did get immediate attention. But a 71 year old women versus a concrete pumping truck? No contest. Makes me shudder.

Since I brought up the fire department headquarters, it's at the corner of Second Street, on the right of the photo (which is looking west) and Townsend, on the left. The building was authorized for construction by the city supervisors in 1907 after the earthquake as a pumping plant to supply bay water for fire fighting in the next disaster. There was another plant built on the north side of the city that completed the system. There are steel roller shutters that can slide down over the windows to protect the machinery, or at least they once could. Now it's the offices of the fire department.

The fatal crosswalk runs from right to left in the shot the same way Lourdes would have been walking. Rest in peace, Lourdes.

Streets of San Francisco (No, not that one)

2011-03-25T18:09:00.000-07:00

When I walk home from my office heading north along 2nd street, I go seven (or eight including South Park) blocks crossing streets with names that are among the most historic in the City. This is the so called SOMA district, as in South Of Market. It's been reinvented several times, from a back water slough to a bustling sailing ship port to major modern port to dilapidated warehouse district to most recently a trendy internet business center with a fancy new old looking baseball field. Since I see them everyday these streets and looking into the names and found some interesting and fun facts. The streets in order, going home, are:

Townsend
Brannon
South Park
Bryant
Harrison
Folsom
Howard
Mission
Market

Seven blocks may not seem like much but these are extra long. In each block are two alleys so the whole distance from Townsend to Market is about one mile according to google maps.

First of all, you need to understand the weird geometry of San Francisco. There is a diagonal slash of Market Street that divides a northern grid of north/south streets with a southern grid that is made of northwest/southeast streets. That's what mathematicians would call a "discontinuity" and drivers just call a mess. The intersections on Market Street provide all kinds of opportunity for different and probably illegal maneuvers. Add in a few one way streets and bike lanes and you better have your wits about you to survive. Notice on the map that further south the orientation goes back to pretty much north/south. It's part of the charm.

As I walk back and forth, I'm collecting some actual facts and some local color to illustrate my pedestrian life. So let's start on Townsend and head north.

Slug a CEO

2011-03-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

Today I missed another chance to slug a CEO. Like giving them a major undercut into his/her belly, just to let them know how I felt about their effect on my life.

I met the outgoing CEO of my company in the elevator, going down. I knew who she was but had seen her rarely even though her office was right down the hall. Obviously didn't need to mix with the rabble like us. Raised the health care premiums, didn't live in this state and was an obviously bleached blonde to boot. She didn't acknowledge my presence and who cares, she was being stroked by her "assistant" and laughing about stiffing the restaurant across the street by not showing up for her reservations. Very low class all the way.

The previous opportunity was Jerry Sanders, AMD CEO. After I got fired from there, for basically mouthing off to my lame ass boss, I think I used the term "Has your brain been erased?" When I went back a week later to pick up my final check and make my various savings plan choices, there he was walking in the front lobby at the same time I was. Green leather (green is AMD colors) briefcase in each hand, plodding through. I could have turned and slugged him easily since both arms were weighed down.

Didn't do it. Didn't even say anything. Oh well, some things need to just be left behind as regrets. I have the luxury of this memory for as long as I like. Sweet.

No that's not Colonel Sanders, that's Jerry Sanders, look him up.

Choosy Moms

2011-03-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

Choosy Moms chose Jiff. Sounds pretty old fashioned and stupid in this world of tweets and faces doesn't it? But somebody is still paying for that advert and getting their monies worth. That somebody is Pillisbury. Home of the doughboy and everything else. And they are owned by General Mills which I am happy to say are "Nourishing the future". Started in a Minneapolis mill, their empire now includes such favorites as Cheerios and Haagen-Daz.

So why am I bringing this up? I think because the same old pitch still sells. I'm sure all their brands have facebook pages and twitter feeds, but they are still making plenty of money from the good old TV commercial. That choosy mom is pretty hot these days and if that's what it takes, I'll eat some of that oily swill too.

They even have a youtube channel too. Good thing this linux box doesn't have any player for that or who knows what might result.

What a dreary day.

2011-03-13T11:26:00.000-07:00

I guess nothing too exciting is going to happen today, the weather is overcast with heavy rain predicted starting in the afternoon. I bought a couple books at a garage sale when I went out to look for the BART train that was reported derailed. I'm not even a lawyer but maybe thought to see some small local disaster.

My thoughts are on the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and the amazing images, particularly of the tongue of debris filled water rolling up the farmland.

I guess the latest bigger disaster always pushes a smaller (or maybe less telegenic) situation off the front page. But I am thinking about the civil war in the Ivory Coast that seems to be starting up. When the one side killed several women by shooting into a demonstration for peace, it's just really disturbing. The cynical side of me writes it off to just another bunch or black poor people dying in a disastrous continent that nobody cares about anyway.

But these are real people and they are really being killed.

My boss at work would never be able to pick out Cote d'Voire on a map or even guess any country on this continent. So many Americans are just so clueless.

Football excitement

2011-02-12T13:39:00.000-08:00

I have made a few jokes recently regarding Wayne Rooney, and I now take them all back and apologize profusely and say Wayne, you're a God.

Just now in the Manchester Derby (pronounced Darby) meaning a game between two teams in the same city, in this case Man United vs. Man City. Rooney put in a goal that will be remembered for the ages. A cross from Nani found Rooney near the far post and he, well what can I say?, he just put it in. See image above.

I'm not a huge sports fan, but when I see something like this, I tingle all over. And I wonder why? I am thinking it's because we are reminded on a moment like this that humans can be really amazing, and thrilling and just plain fun. This can happen in a lot of areas, like art and science. But sport is so immediate, meaning right now, in your face and makes me throw up my arms and shout.

Thanks Wayne Rooney. Your life and mine are better for this amazing shot. Whoo Hoo.

Inspired by the clones on my train this afternoon

2011-02-10T17:49:00.000-08:00

Apologies to John Lennon where ever he may be.

Imagine there's no iPhone
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Actually face to face

Imagine there's no Apple
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to spend or charge for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living in the present

You may say that I'm a dreamer
and I might be the only one
I hope someday you'll go away
and the phones will all be gone

Imagine no smart phones
I wonder if you can
But you can't really hear me talking
cause those buds are in your ear
Imagine all the people
talking man to man

You may say that I'm a dreamer
even though I'm the only one
I hope someday you'll wake up
and dump them all down the john.

Filling in the gaps

2011-02-09T18:01:00.000-08:00

Just now on the TV news there was an item about the Vatican's new iphone app. It allows users to perform and track their confessions. Guidance is given regarding sin severity and penance and that is now being tracked. This information is then updated to VatGod, the Vatican's world wide Believer Information System (BIS).

This reminds me that I have been remiss in reporting the other side of this massive effort. There is also a Vatican project whose code name I have forgotten but to the insiders is simply known as GodNet. I have been following this for quite a while and have several insiders that feed me updates as important development occur.

So I checked in with one of these fellows, they're all men you know, for any news. The final sticky problem is, and has been for a while, the interface between BIS and GodNet into Him himself. There have been encouraging signs of contact and they are being researched and refined. Thanks to a generous grant from Google, the entire bible in all it's variations is being scoured for relevant knowledge.

The most recent breakthrough is based on data from 1 Kings 7:14. Bronze is prominently mentioned as the work required for King Solomon. Bronze, as we know has a resistivity constant just slightly below that of the copper that has traditionaly been used in electronic circuits. Substituting bronze in place of copper in the God Interface Module (GIM) has greatly increased the signal to noise ratio of the connection. He can be heard quite clearly now.

The final step is to simply hook up the GIM to GodNet and thence to the BIS. This will come soon. We can all look forward, at no extra cost, to the big guy, God, embedded and guiding our iphone use. What a glorious day! Please support this effort by sending $19.95 by simply texting to 78666 with promo code "count me in".

copyrights owned by their owners, all others are not. the bible is all truthful and don't you forget it. 2000 BC - 2000 AD all rights protected.

Dictators

2011-01-29T15:10:00.001-08:00

The TV is full of images from street demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt and now Yemen. All are calling for the removal of the current dictator. These guys have all been around for 20 or 30 years. I've posted about this before, but to remind you... Dictators are not individuals, they have built their power by creating a structure around them of people that are benefiting and controlling people around them. It's a classic pyramid structure. Think multi level marketing.

That's what makes it hard for Americans to understand why they don't get over thrown sooner. Would you kick out your boss if he was providing a lucrative payroll by controlling you and allowing you to control the next level down? Probably not, and that's why it's only the people at the very lowest level that will protest. Everyone else is in on the game. And when the lowest level becomes big enough, meaning that all the middle/upper level positions are full, and nothing is left, then "Viva la revolution!".

Of course it's hard for the American President to stop supporting Mubarak after his sucking down billions of aid dollars but it will have to happen. Good lesson to Obama, how to cut loose a loser. That will be hard on such a pretend moral high grounder. But good for his training.

I was looking for the next group of 20+ year dictators and I'll see what I can find. I suppose those CIA guys have beat me to it, but they are not sharing the data.

Looting the world

2011-01-19T18:23:00.000-08:00

Last year's totals are in: 333 rhinos killed by poachers in South Africa. All for the horns to be sold to the "Asian" market.

Am I the only one who has noticed that "Asian" in this context is just a code word for Chinese? Like we are trying to not hurt their feelings? Let me tell you, this primitive civilization that claims to be so advanced has never gotten past the most simple beliefs of the proto humans. If the horn is so strong and comes from a huge beast, then it will give me strength for my "horn" if consumed. This is nothing more advanced than the most simplistic magical belief that an animal or plant with a desirable characteristic can give it to me if eaten.

This has got to stop. These "Asians" are destroying the world to satisfy their superstitions. These poachers are using helicopters and night vision equipment to swoop down and grab the horns before any local police can respond. They leave behind a bloody carcass, minus the magical horn. And make plenty of money doing it.

President Obama met today with the Chinese president but I doubt this topic was discussed. There are more immediate economic issues on the table. Like the huge U.S. trade deficit fueled by we'all buying plastic crap from the Asians.

May I suggest that we should refrain from making that trip to Walmart to save a couple bucks and speak out against the rape of the world's wildlife? Please, let's keep some of these magnificent beasts around and not in some quack doctor's display case.

Why the internet wins

2010-12-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning for a long time to get a new blade assembly for our blender. It's been doing it's job recently by standing majestically on the counter in glossy black, matching the other appliances, But it hasn't actually worked for quite a while because the blade thingy just spins around and around inside and doesn't cut anything.

With the holidays and stuff, I have some time so I thought to buy new blades. Now, I'm an old school guy so I went to the appliance place on Folsom street where I'd had good service some time before and the guy at the counter (Jim) after telling me how Kitchenaid had stopped making these more than 10 years ago and they can't get them and the last time they checked in November there were none and he would check again and maybe I could call back tomorrow. And they were $14.95 in the price book, and he wrote down the part number for me.

So I called back and yes they had checked, well they had sent them an email but they didn't hear back so I suggested that I will call back next week.

Later that day, I cut out early from work, so I was in time to go to my local parts place. Upon asking for a blender part, she got into her files and gave me a mapquest printout of the directions to another local place. Internet scores 1.

At this place, the counter guy started out with attitude when I mentioned that I thought the original part was not very robust.

"You've had this thing for at least 10 years which is when they last made this style so it can't be that bad now can it?"

I didn't mention how it had been hardly used.

He fiddled with his computer for a while and then dashed off into the back. Is there some secret place in all these parts places where the stuff I want is actually stored and not logged in the computer? Seems like. He returned a few minutes later with the part and declared it would be $28.

That was double the price of the Folsom street store but he did actually have it so I pulled out my credit card. "Sorry no credit card for less that $50".

I tried to turn it back on him that since Kitchenaid hadn't made these for ten years and he was unlikely to get another customer who would want them and he would have those blades sitting in the secret place forever and make no money and that he should make an exception and let me use my card for his price that was already twice what the other place had quoted. No deal.

When I got home, I searched the internet for the part using the number the Folsom street guy had given me, found it on Amazon and bought it, all in a couple minutes. (see picture above). Internet 2.

With the shipping, the internet part costs $20. If it is the right part, then I guess it's a win, if not then there will be some return hassle.

I wonder. If I'm at the counter and the guy is using his computer to search for a part, or I'm at home using my computer to search for a part then what's the difference? If the counter guy really knows something about the part and has one in stock then that's good. If he doesn't have it but did get me the part number then am I ripping him off by buying it somewhere else?

So many of the really helpful stores, the ones that have a counter, have already gone out of business that I am tempted to patronize them just to keep them around for that occasion when I really will need help. But if I can buy it online with a small risk of getting the wrong thing and the convenience of home shopping and delivery then I guess I will. Somehow though it makes the world seem a little smaller or colder, or less friendly in some way.

It's in the mail

2010-10-30T08:58:00.001-07:00

So let me get this straight. Two UPS packages mailed in Yemen, addressed to synagogues in Chicago were found to contain bombs. I can just see the scene at the UPS counter in Yemen.

"Yes, sure, we've got some good friends in Chicago, and here's a couple treats for them. Hehe"
"They sure love our delicious surprises. Hehe"

And no one thought this was suspicious?

How about this for a plan? No more packages allowed from Yemen to the U.S. Why do we bother trying to be fair to people? Let's keep it simple, your countryman sent us a bomb, so you may not send us anything ever again. And by the way, don't be applying for any visas either. There will be no American visa issued to anyone from Yemen ever again.

I don't think we'll be missing out on much.

Corporate Culture

2010-10-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

Been a while but here goes anyway. Sitting in at the IT employee monthly meeting today I heard that no matter who is chosen for the new CEO, they will be committed to preserving the culture.

Is that right? No one ever mentions what the culture actually is, but it's supposed to be something precious. Let me think.

All white managers, although some women are allowed.
Black, Filipino, and Gay low paid workers.
Massive amounts of manual paper pushing.

I guess that sums it up. With one addition perhaps, lots of the low paid workers are massively obese. From hours sitting in front of a computer doing what every other industry has long ago automated. BTW, this is a health care company.

I sent a nice email to the HR guy today regarding the 401K plan. I guess we are supposed to praise the master that we have one but it actually sucks. For example, one fund I looked at in our plan had 1.7% annual expenses. A similar plan from Vanguard had 0.17% annual expenses. Let's see how this turns out. I'm afraid that not being the obedient slave might not be a good career move. But who cares? This business (health care) needs a major kick in the butt and if I can give my little bit then good for me.

The Workaday World

2010-09-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

I'm still trying to figure out the politics of my new job, and this week got another surprising lesson, at least to me. We have lots of tedious manual processes that I've wondered why people put up with them. Now I know.

Last week, my cohort and I worked through the laborious process of closing the books for the end of the month. We started at about 4pm and finished up at 11:30pm. I was frustrated and exhausted, he was jubilant. From my point of view, the whole thing was a pain in the ass, for him it was 7 1/2 hours of overtime, even more than usual. Probably because my inexperience slowed him down.

The next day he pointed out that he usually does the process from home, where he can do other things during the long periods of computer processing, but he always books 6 or more hours of overtime.

This week, I took one of the most manual parts of the monthly process and wrote some scripts do the work. I had a chance to test them out in our development environment since it needed a month end close for some other things they were doing. I ran my scripts. Less than 10 minutes, they were done, versus a solid hour of typing away for the manual method. Not only that, I had complete logs of the process that showed there were no errors. I was jubilant, some of my colleagues were not.

I am threatening their "rice bowl". My nature is to improve things, these other guys are more into milking things. I wonder how this will play out?

My new Religion

2010-09-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

In the news today is a pastor from Florida who has declared "Burn the Koran" day for next Saturday, which is also September 11th. That is supposed to be inflammatory towards Muslims and not in good taste PC wise. I don't think it's such a bad idea and I'll do it one better. I hereby declare "Burn Holy Books" day.

In all religions the original founder/prophet/messenger from God had his ideas taken over and warped and rewritten by the next generation or two of followers. I think they all get it wrong, their motivations have become contaminated by ego, power and wealth. To combat this problem, I think first of all we should demand that only teachings from the original prophet be allowed. And secondly we should keep the entire religious literature to one page.

For the Christians, let's keep it to the 10 commandments. For the Moslems, they have their equivalent. The Buddhists are pretty hard to pin down, let them come up with something. And same for the rest.

I realize this will put out of work thousands of scholars from so many religions but so be it. They would learn and teach a lot more useful information if they had to get a real job. Religion should be a part of life while being a member of society, not an ivory tower to escape into and hurl down pronouncements onto us poor mortals.

So gather up your books and come on down. We'll have a whole lot of fun.

Medical

2010-09-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

Now that I've worked in the medical biz for a couple months, I know what's wrong with it and how to fix it. Well, not really but I have observed a few things. I characterized it as a business because that's the end I'm in, I know nothing about treating patients but I am learning about the business end of things.

The problem is the doctors. Not exactly just them but them and the culture that's been created around them. Anyone who's spent any time in a hospital can easily recognize the actual doctors amongst the multitudes of other workers. The doctors wear white lab coats and have stethoscopes draped over their shoulders. Why? It's not that there's that much need for a stethoscope at any moment, it's a symbol. The symbol says doctors rule. And they do, the nurses in all their flavors (and colors) right on down to the orderlies and cleaners bow down and do their bidding.

In the hospital setting maybe this makes some sense, but on the business end it's a disaster. Doctors are control freaks who think they can know everything. Hello, they don't know accounting. So the billing and insurance processing is a complete mess. It's slow, error prone, arbitrary and generally dumb. I wonder if this is a result of being created by physicians who operate in an ambiguous environment of percentages and hopes.

At our place the doctors own the processing company. And even in the office you can immediately tell who's a doctor. I swear there's one guy that always has a large envelop like for an xray tucked under his arm in case there was any doubt. Like I didn't notice your ill fitting suit and arrogance that you carry around?

Sorry for us peons but we fall into the culture so easily. Yes, Dr. so and so, and yes sir.

Time to knock the doctors down a notch and get some real management and accounting and computer people in and make it a properly run industry. But the AMA sets the codes and ensures that the docs get their (well deserved, to them) deference and we all suffer to keep this mess going. Search the internet for "medical codes" to get a taste of the problem.

Getting to that point

2010-08-19T18:14:00.000-07:00

I've been banging my head against a hard problem at work for a while. Without getting into too much detail, I'm trying (as I often do) to get a program to do what I want, not what the creators designed it for. At least that's how I've been looking at the problem and it's been very frustrating and now I come to find out that I was wrong. Very wrong and very stubborn and maybe the head banging is part of my natural learning process, I've been through similar things before.

We've got a program that is mostly used by people sitting at PCs (or any kind of terminal) and interactively doing the tasks required to get medical bills and prescriptions and office schedules to behave the way we want. The problem is that there are cases where a person sitting at a terminal is just too error prone and slow and overall a silly way to do things. Like processing 986 claims (like we did this morning) to see if they should be paid and then printing a check for each that is valid.

We've been using a couple ways of simulating a person at a keyboard and hooking that up to the application and getting things done faster than a real person. The main technique has been to script a terminal emulator program to send keystrokes in the correct sequence to get a process done. This way the application thinks it's attached to a real terminal and behaves normally. A proper script can automate the process by becoming the perfect user.

Except that the terminal emulator program itself has problems. If the application doesn't send back the expected prompt quick enough, like if the system gets busy, then the emulator stops waiting and starts sending the next keystrokes which the application isn't expecting and the whole process falls apart. Other random failures are occurring, in these cases the perfect synchronization between the emulator sending keystrokes and the application expecting them fails and nothing much gets done.

I have been focusing on sending the keystroke data to the application in different ways without the emulator being involved at all with little success. You know this button across the top of your keyboard? Labeled F1, F2 etc...? They send out special codes that the application needs if it is attached to a terminal and are very difficult to send without a real keyboard or an emulator.

That was the key insight that has broken my logjam. If the application is attached to a terminal... Well, how about if it's not? Like if it's a batch job reading input from a file? Then, it behaves completely differently. The application running in batch happily reads an input file without needing the troublesome function key commands. Almost like someone designed it that way. I think they probably did but nobody bothered to tell me. My predecessors and then myself were focused on one mode that was driving us all crazy, not knowing that there was another mode that did everything we wanted. If we had only known.

Hopefully, with this breakthrough, I can move forward to getting this place out of the stone age. With a reasonable batch control system, scheduling and monitoring batch processes nirvana can be just around the corner. At least that's how I feel now until the next unexpected roadblock. But optimism for now and face that when it comes.

The end of masculinity

2010-08-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

I've noticed for a while that the feminine side has been taking over the modern world. Boys are having trouble being boys because they need to jump around and find frogs and all kinds of non PC behaviors. It also means that they need to discover skills that are not in any book. Like finding your way around. I learned it with a bicycle in a small town and the freedom to roam. These days moms don't let boys roam, they take them to school, practice, camp, gym, ballet, errands. Boys just veg in the back seat with an electronic game until they are deposited at their destination. Then they do whatever behavior is expected and wait until getting picked up.

This last bastion of maleness has now been totally destroyed. The male pride of comprehension in navigation has been wiped out. That business about asking for directions was just a small step, now every last prideful thing has been wiped out by GPS navigation particularly in cars.

As a male I take pride in knowing where I am, and knowing how to get somewhere. In fact where I live it's pretty simple, the ocean is on the west (where the sun goes down) and the mountains are on the east (where the sun comes up). To go north, simply keep the ocean on your left, to go south, keep it on your right. The main freeways go north and south in the bay area except when you need to get to the mountains and then you just head off to the east. It's as hard as picking highway 80 or 50 depending on which end of Lake Tahoe you want to get to. 80 for North, 50 for South.

Our new car has a navigation system. Very fancy with lots of buttons and screens and a thick manual. No longer can the wife just say "why don't you ask?". Now it's "why didn't you enter the destination", "are you in the right mode?" "Where's the way point?" "The screen says SR242, are we on that?" "You missed the last turn!". "Why don't you listen?". But this time, it's not why didn't I listen to her, but why didn't I listen to the stupid machine.

I'll tell you why I don't listen, because I know my way around and that stupid machine won't accept my home address as a valid address and I don't want to be bossed around by a computer and I hate it so much but I can't even figure out how to turn it off.

The last straw? It has a female voice.

Your BMI and EHR and meaningful use

2010-08-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

As part of the government's recent health care bill, there is $20 billion allocated to get doctors to use electronic health records (EHR). For us Kaiser members this is nothing new, that company spent some billions recently and put all the records on the computer. Long gone are my fond memories of the Doc coming into that little uncomfortable room with a fat paper file that was me since age one month.

In order to get the private doctors into the digital age, the health care bill offers $44,000 to a practice that can demonstrate "meaningful use" of EHR. Two years later the final rules are now in place defining what constitutes "meaningful use". It basically means the practice has to use a certified software package and to also meet the requirements on a checklist of items for things like ordering prescriptions and procedures that can vary based on the doctor's specialty.

My current employer provides computer services for more than 800 physicians in the San Francisco bay area. The numbers are a little vague because it's not really a public company so the annual report is pretty skimpy. More pictures of the good life than financial data. But whatever the actual numbers, $44k times hundreds of practices is a good chunk of change. So the company is scrambling to get these docs to meet the standard and then we all can share a piece of the reward. We're good on the software, what we offer is certified, the challenge is the extra checkoff items. Some doctors don't care and some do, so are guys are out there pumping as fast as they can.

Sounds good right? Simple to take your records to a new doctor and continue with seamless treatment? Well, sort of. The certified systems don't always inter-operate so well. You can be reduced to paying your current doctor to print out some of your records and then carry them to the new place to be entered into the new system. But some data is standardized and portable between certified systems. Like your Body Mass Index (BMI) for example. Is this a good idea? The government is already asking to collect this data for every patient who receives care from a provider that receives any government money. In other words, they can collect the data about everybody! Prepare to be in a new database.

Now I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder when I'll get a letter from Uncle Sam reminding me to eat more vegetables. Or do they already know from the traffic cameras?

Mansfield Park

2010-08-09T18:51:00.000-07:00

Did you ever put a book down and lose your place? And then try to figure out where you were when you lost track? My little brother used to do that to me on purpose when I had left a book near my bedside, but this current situation is on a whole 'nother level. Back then, I could look at the side of the book and guess the place based on the wrinkles in the pages and then search back a forth a couple times until I was back on track. (or I could spent eight bucks for a gizmo like this)

This time, the cleaners knocked my book off the side table and then replaced it with no bookmark at all. I found the marker on the floor. But I have not been able to locate where I was reading. Why? It's all the same! The book is Mansfield Park by the much beloved Jane Austen, published in 1814. I admit I was having trouble figuring out what was going on, it took until about half way through (and a peek at the introduction) to realize that Fanny, the poor relative staying amongst the richer sisters was the main subject. Now when I pick a page to try to find my original place, it reads just the same as any other page I pick. It's completely confusing. It doesn't really matter that I had mostly figured things out, it's all gibberish now.

What's the lure of Sotherton? Why did Sir what's his name go to the West Indies? And why did he return at such an inopportune time and marry off that daughter so suddenly? And who the heck is Mr. Rushworth? Is that another name for Edmund? Why did Mr. Yates come and go so suddenly? And why did the author insist on using first names sometimes and surnames on other occasions? Was that to ensure I couldn't get things straight?

I am reassured by the fact that even the Austen fans don't all like this book. I think more experienced writers can get the idea that making sense is not that important and that's what this seems like to me. Even Ms. Austen's mother criticized the characters. Check out Austen.com to see what the Derbyshire Writers Guild thinks, it's a real hoot. Since Austen died a couple years after the publication, maybe she just didn't have it together anymore. Makes sense to me.

Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert

2010-07-22T20:19:00.000-07:00

In this mixed up world of ours the contradictions of culture can be absolutely mind boggling. I was reading about the recent decision of the court in Botswana that the native Bushmen could not reopen a water well on land that was taken from them in the 1980's when diamonds were discovered. Seeking more information on the story I did that thing we do, googled it.

Look at the first hit I got! Kalahari Resorts. An authentic African themed resort, in Ohio. Featuring the world's largest indoor water park and an even bigger outdoor one. I guess we can forgive the little slip up on the location, the Kalahari is really located off the bottom of the map. I wonder what a bushman would think about all that water? I bet he would enjoy the "incredible" salad bar and a hut room that includes a 32" flat screen TV. Maybe he would be able to catch a National Geographic special about himself and the famous lions after lounging in the plunge pool.

What a world!

I want to be somewhere else

2010-07-21T18:51:00.000-07:00

Like Capri for example, I mean the real one, the island off the coast of Italy. Shear limestone cliffs, narrow winding paths between neat whitewashed houses. Glimpses of perfectly tended gardens and the blue Mediterranean sea beyond.

Boy, do I sound like a travel agent. I looked around for some pictures to post here, none of them do the place justice. So use your imagination. Feel the breeze on your face. Feel your legs tremble at the impossibly steep switchbacks leading down to a blue grotto. Try to get a waiters attention, but who's in a hurry anyway?

Sneak out at midnight for a walk and try not to get lost, the place is a maze. The local polizia can maybe help, they patrol on skinny electric carts that can fit on the paths.

I'd like to be there now. Gelato!

Money Ill

2010-07-19T18:18:00.000-07:00

OK, so I'm just taking off from the title of the book "Money Ball" which I just took off the shelf for my BART reading. But on the news tonight, there was footage of a worldwide AIDS conference in Vienna. A room with thousands of delegates was shown applauding a new breakthrough. Well, maybe, these things need years of testing before they are proven to work and then be administered to the afflicted people.

Does this conference do anything for the sufferers or more for the attendees? Attendees get a goody bag and lots of eating and drinking and carrying on like all conferences. Plush hotel rooms, lovely bathrobes and all the rest.

The fact is that AIDS is now a major industry, the big Pharmas and the little startups are competing to find the magic bullet and rack in the megabucks. I find it sickening.

People in many countries around the world are wasting away and dying, leaving their families behind to fend for themselves. There are so many little things that can be done to stop the spread of AIDS, like giving away condoms and educating people in their use. But where's the money in that? And the several major religions won't allow it anyway.

As I said, it's just so wrong. Several thousand well fed and housed delegates jumping to their feet and applauding a "breakthrough" that was created and publicized and will be continued based on good old greed makes me sick. Tell them all to go back home and do something actually useful rather than grubbing for cash. Please, someone, please, make these disease celebrities just go away.

The non profit world

2010-06-13T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I'm starting a real job. After being off work for more than two years it's certainly a bit intimidating. I didn't get laid off, I had quit my previous job, at a well known internet company because I just couldn't stand it. But that's not why I writing this.

In those two years, one thing I did was to sign up with a non profit organization that provides technical professionals, like myself, to other non profits that need help. I learned a few things about that world in my time with them.

First of all, just because it's a non profit doesn't mean there's no money. Staffers have jobs that they want to keep, directors are rewarded in ways including prestige and social status, and there's a whole ecosystem of consultants and advisers looking to make a buck.

One of my tasks was to evaluate and recommend a new software system for an agency that had come into enough money that they needed help keeping track of it. I dove into the "donor management" software market and found a bunch of companies looking to sell their products. I could accept that, after all these companies need to make enough money to stay alive. What I didn't expect, that happened right off the bat, was the offers for me to make money by recommending a certain product. I was told, via email, by two different companies that if I could get the agency to pick their product there was an immediate %15 in it for me and future arrangements where I would the the preferred support provider.

That sounds like a kickback to me, and not only is it unethical, it's illegal. I had no idea this was out there and I had no intention of participating. That was one troubling problem but it was easy to avoid. I just refused to recommend those products and slept soundly.

The bigger problem was what these systems do. Simply put they help you collect cash for your organization. People donate because it makes them feel good so these systems help find ways to make potential donors to feel good. One way they do that is to collect as much personal information about you as they can to create linkages. Did you go to they same school as another donor? Play at the same golf club? Kids go to the same school? Vacation at the same resort? What's your dog's name?

These linkages allow the fund raisers to apply subtle pressures like, "your friend Bob gave us a generous gift", or "your old school is a big supporter" etc. Never said out loud like that but applied with code expressions like: "Oh, we know a lot of people over there" or "he's my uncle's wife's best friend".

Pardon me, but I don't want anyone collecting this type information about me and I think it's wrong to do it for people that have donated some money to an organization. Once you donate you become like a quartz vein in the gold mine that can be followed to great reward. I find the whole idea really creepy and I guess that's why I don't what to participate further. The profit world is a lot more straightforward and in the end honest. Wish me luck in my new job.

Internet Business

2010-06-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

When you search for something in Google there is a list of results presented. Did you ever wonder how that list is ordered? Google uses a semi-secret algorithm to decide which site should show up on the top of the list and which second and down the line. Gaming that algorithm is big business and it can mean the difference between success and failure for an internet business. If a person searches for say "basketball shoes" they are much more likely to go to a site and buy a pair of shoes if it appears high up on the results list. In fact being on the first page of the list makes all the difference since people will rarely go to the second page and beyond unless they are looking for something very specific.

I'll let you research how the list ordering is determined, the internet is full of information on that. And there are lots of search engine optimization (SEO) companies that will gladly sell you expensive services to improve your sites listing. Be aware that a lot of the information out there is not very useful. The game is always changing since as SEO companies learn to beat Google, Google in return will adjust their algorithm to result in what they think is a list that accurately represents how the search results should be displayed.

Consider how a small company with good SEO can carve out a profitable niche for itself. For example: airport-data..com. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) publishes on an hourly basis the current weather conditions at airports throughout the country. They are nice enough to present the data in a standard format that is very convenient for others to pick up. That's what airport-data.com does, it's computers grab the data from NOAA's sites and publishes it on airport-data's site. Doesn't sound like much of a business but in fact it's brilliant. The other thing that's on airport-data's web site is advertising. Companies have paid to have airport-data's site littered with ads that they think people looking at airport information will be interested in. Airport-data.com has also been set up to show up high on the Google search results. For example if someone, like me, searches for "weather ccr" like I do for a local weather report, airport-data shows up first on the list, I click on it and get my information and airport-data makes a few pennies from the ads. It's a beautiful little money spinner, the data is free, setting up and maintaining airport-data.com doesn't cost much and the money rolls in.

As you're clicking around the net thinking everything's free and wonderful, take a moment to consider who's making money and the ways you are actually paying. You pay in ads cluttering up your screen and you pay in sluggish response while all this ad stuff happens behind the scenes.

Notes: ccr is the Concord airport near my house.
this article is an interesting overview of web advertising.

Short attention span

2010-05-30T15:26:00.000-07:00

It was just a few years back when the oil industry was worried about a lack of trained engineers. Schools were facing declining enrollment in petroleum engineering, geology and related subjects. Some programs even shutdown all together.

I guess we shouldn't have worried. The gulf oil spill has brought out engineering talent that we never knew existed. Everyone from Rush Limbaugh, Kevin Costner, James Carville, Colin Powell, and well, just about everyone is on TV explaining what went wrong and why it's still going wrong and how it should be fixed. And why hasn't Obama done anything? And what happened to "drill baby drill" baby Sarah Palin? Maybe she has some ideas, she's usually got plenty.

The internet has risen to the occasion too. This clown offers iPhone apps and other important ways the you can help. That "clown" has a pretty big ax to grind in this situation, he is trying to launch a "cap and trade" greenhouse gas market and is using the publicity for all it's worth.

Our old friends from CrisisCommons (CC) are also trying to get in on the action. Remember them? Can you remember all the way back to January? After the Haiti earthquake the CC geeks swarmed into action, reveling in coding camps to create applications for things like hospital scheduling and infrastructure repair coordination. It's an amazing disconnect between the reality on the ground and the "reality" in the heads of these folks. Check out the "Oil Reporter" app as advertised on CC's front page. It will allow for "virtual volunteers to adopt a span of beach" and do, uh something. Well, not anything physical, like actually clean it up.

It's like watching a school of fish, each with a 5 second attention span. Like the goldfish. "Nice rock, nice castle, nice bubbles, nice rock, nice castle..."

Christianity

2010-05-16T12:06:00.000-07:00

Traveling to Italy started me thinking about the fall of the Roman Empire. A multitude of reasons have been put forth as factors in causing this calamity. It's always seemed to me that people pick their favorite reason based on how well it fits as an allegory for modern times. Lead pipes is a favorite with environmentalists, unrestrained immigration fits well for white supremacists, decline in military capability suits hawks, too much reliance on slave labor warms the heart of a trade unionist, moral decay is a perfect fit for evangelical Christians, falling behind in technology is a favorite for engineers, even high taxation has been posited as a reason for the decline which I'm sure is a favorite for Reaganites.

The Roman ruins are impressive when you consider that you are viewing only the leftovers of the imperial capital. One thing really struck me though, there are churches everywhere. Some were built right amongst the earlier ruins, others are scattered throughout the city. There are supposedly 900 churches in the city of Rome having been built from the earliest Christian times right up through modern times.

Here's a brief timeline of the rise and fall of the Roman empire. Things got under way under the rule of Julius Caesar, he was assassinated in 44BC. The empire reached it's peak under Trajan who died in 117AD. At that time Roman rule stretched from England to Iran. The emperor Constantine ruled until 337AD. He had established an eastern capital at Constantinople (Istanbul) and the empire was split in 364AD. Roman was sacked by the Visigoths in 410AD.

So what happened? How did it get so bad so fast and for so long? After all the fall of Rome ushered in the Dark Ages that lasted until the Renaissance got going in the 14th century. Almost a thousand years lost. There was a very significant event that happened just in the middle of the Roman might. His name was Jesus. He taught the worth of the individual. A person has intrinsic value, can have a personal relationship with God and most importantly should follow a moral code of living as handed down from that God.

This guide for living really wasn't going to work very well in an empire. Empires need masses of obedient soldiers, workers, farmers, slaves, and entertainers. The inevitable clash is well documented. I had wondered while looking at miles of paintings and sculpture just where all those martyrs came from? It was so easy, just say the wrong thing, something a missionary had taught you and bang you're another martyr. They turned them out by the hundreds.

In 312AD Constantine converted to Christianity and a year later made it legal throughout the empire. It was a recognition of the inevitability of the appeal of the new religion. And the death sentence for the empire.

Looking at the art from this period the change is striking. At the height of the empire the images are of heroic glory, natural beauty, and architectural wonders, displaying an ambitious optimistic view of the world. What images did Christianity bring? Martyrdom, crucifixion, angels, and tortures of hell. The stolid barrel vaulted Basilica replaced the sophisticated Roman forms.

The organizations that the Christians created were definitely not suitable for an Empire. St. Benedict laid down the rules for a christian monastery in around 500AD. It dictated an aesthetic life with few belongings and fewer pleasures, the focus of all activity was to be achieving an inner purity of soul. Others at around that time were promoting other forms of living totally dedicated to God. Life turned inward. Roman (and Greek) achievements were fossilized and at best kept as unquestionable truths or more often discarded as heretic and forgotten. Any new thoughts were simply ignored or quashed as offering no progress towards the goal of salvation.

There was no room for an empire in this environment. It simply evaporated because no one cared anymore. There were lots of martyrs, no fun, no science, but plenty of death and war. The new religion had destroyed the empire. A thousand years later some light peeked in and maybe by that time the Christians were tired out so the light got a foothold and then bloomed into the Renaissance. After a last burst of artistic agony mankind was released to try to build a new world.

Venice

2010-05-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

OK, I admit, I really didn't enjoy my visit to Venice. It was too hurried, too expensive and I think Disney could do it better. Today I was talking to my daughter in Las Vegas, and since she missed out on our Italy trip I suggested she go over to the Venetian hotel and ride a gondola.

Her response, "It's just a boat ride through a shopping mall".

Well, I bet the water's cleaner, but other than that she nailed it, the real Venice is a shopping mall and many of the stores and brands you will recognize from your favorite local mall, wherever you live. Coach, Guess, Bvulgari, Camper, Annie, David Tate, Kate Spade, Tommy Hilfiger, Gucci and on and on. Both real and fakes are available. All these names might mean something to someone but to me they just mean standing around killing time. By the way, there are fines for possessing fake merchandise so keep that $50 Gucci bag in the shopping bag until later.

Besides fashion, there is pottery for sale, not just in Venice but all throughout Italy. The amazing thing is that it's made locally, wherever you are, and it all looks pretty much the same. Let me pass along a tip, next time you are in Santa Barbara stop in at the Pottery outlet. Wide selection, good prices and no worries about shipping or carrying it in your suitcase.

Then there's glass. In the lagoon there's the island of Murano. Touts and flyers are everywhere in Venice inviting you to a free boat ride to see the glass factorys. Also the shops that sell glass will gladly arrange for a boat to their factory. Once at the factory expect to be subjected to sales tactics that would make a used car dealer cringe. You're kind of stuck since only their boat goes to their dock so you'll just have to deal with it. Prices are astronomical and bargaining can be very rewarding. I suppose the good news is if you buy it there you know it's not fake and they are efficient and safe shippers. Or go to the glass museum next time you're in Tacoma and get every bit as good quality glassware.

And yes, there is a Disney store in Venice too, right near the Rialto bridge. Sigh.

Wayne's not dead

2010-05-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

My neighbor Wayne is a quiet sort, I occasionally hear the bandsaw from his shop or see him over the fence. But I hadn't seen him for a while and then the last few days there has been a lot of activity over there. Cars coming and going, cars that I didn't recognize. Unfamiliar people and conversations in the driveway that I couldn't hear. Gates left open that never were before.

I began to think that Wayne was dead. Maybe these were his relatives, children coming around to close up the house, distribute his things. This was my speculations, like the dog who howls when new people come into house and his master is not to be seen.

It's been quiet on our side of the fence too. After months of rumors and weeks of evaluation, the company announced the layoffs. 620 from the local office, more in other locations. Some of them are people we've known for years and some are strangers. Still, the strain of wondering and then knowing and not telling has been hard on my wife. She's one of those making the decisions and it's made her withdrawn and moody.

But Wayne is alive! I just saw him over the fence puttering around as usual. I daren't tell him what I was thinking, I hope a "how you doing?" will suffice to express my relief.

Venezia

2010-05-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

After tagging along after my shopping spouse the next morning we were off to Venice. Thankfully the car was just where we left it, it was supposed to be a safe place but who could know? Back on the A1 to Bologna then eastward to Venezia. For the last few hundred years Venice has had no reason to exist except as a tourist trap. First problem, where to park the car? No problem, they built an island for that, Tronchetto, complete with multi-level garage. From there the Vaporetto runs frequently into town. We bought our tickets and then the lady in the booth closed up and left. A nice gentleman commuting home from the mainland made sure we got on the right boat.

At the boat stop at St. Marks, this is what we saw. The Doge's palace had been completely wrapped in a Bulgari advertisement. Not too classy to my way of thinking but I suppose they have to pay the bills somehow.

Since we had gotten there so late we didn't have a lot of choice on restaurants and we didn't make a very good one, but the hotel seemed nice enough although another 4th floor room with no lift. The next morning we went to check out the Doge's palace. What's there now was built after a disastrous fire in 1574, I wish those old guys had kept their buildings more carefully. Amongst all the gilded ceilings and massive paintings I was pleased to see one of my favorites by Hieronymus Bosch, his vision of life is so true even to this day. We sat in St. Mark's for a drink and then off to the main event, shopping.

I am not a great shopper so I just tagged along. It seemed to me that the center of Venice was just like any modern mall, the same chain stores, just in older buildings. Before I knew it I was on the island of Murano looking at glass. We already have a Murano chandelier and a mirror so I didn't really see the point but there you are. Spouse bought another mirror with a fancy glass frame around it, to be shipped, and before I knew it we were back at the car.

On the Autostrada

2010-05-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

At the train station in Rome, we picked up our Punto. Well, not exactly at the station, a couple blocks down in the garage where the rental companies keep their cars. We had a map with instructions on getting out of Rome, marked by the agent and a bigger map of the country that we had bought at the bookstore in the station.

The car was not impressive. It certainly didn't look like much. I turned the key and it didn't start. My wife exclaimed "See the thing won't even start!". Patience dear, it's a diesel and takes a bit longer. Then it did start, we threw the suitcases in the trunk and back seat and headed out. Seemed simple enough, turn right, and right and right and straight and right. Time, about 10:00 am. Enough time to be on the Grande Raccordo Anulare (GRA) and out of town in good time.

Missed the last right and made a questionable U-turn and then got to it. Next stop Firenze (Florence) and then Venezia (Venice). Despite what you may have seen in the movies, driving was pretty easy. The autostradas were mostly two lanes, sometimes three. On the two lane sections you should only be in the left lane if you are passing and I don't mean just cruising along. If you dawdle in the left lane for sure an Alfa will be on your tail in seconds with lights flashing. So stay on the right and when you need to pass just do it and get back to the right. Stay alert and it all works pretty well.

The A1 (Firenze) was the sign we were looking out for and we kept watching for it. Some of these turns don't have any warning so it's good to keep track of your progress on the map. Coming up to Florence I suppose we could have followed the guide books directions and gone immediately to the most convenient parking, but what's the fun of that? We had to make our own way and ended up in the same place maybe an hour later. The place is Piazzale Michelangelo where free parking is readily available. It's across the river on a hill looking down at the town with an excellent view.

Taking just our day packs we headed for town. A bus came but the driver said he didn't have any tickets so we took a taxi. We were booked into the Hotel La Gioconda and found it a pleasant enough place to stay. Just outside the center of town and and with the usual lack of elevator we enjoyed our room on the fourth floor. (which to us would be the fifth floor, another good reason to leave the big bags in the car).

What about Florence? It's all about Michelangelo, after all his David stood outside in the main square for 300 years before being moved into the Accademia. There's still a copy outside but you must go into the Accademia, book a reservation online and it's quite convenient, we actually bought a reserved ticket from an American couple who had just had enough for one day. BTW, when queuing up in these crowded tourist locations, don't be afraid to use Italian rules. Act like you are going up to the front to just ask a question and then go right in. No one will say anything and if you are a bit confident it can save hours of waiting. Especially good is to cut in front of a tourist group that is milling around waiting for some direction, they won't even notice as you go past.

The other necessity in Florence is the Uffizi. Amazing and long and row after row of marbles gets kind of old but the paintings are the real treat. And some rooms have benches so you can rest your feet and contemplate the art.

Be sure to ditch the crowds and enter the Doumo museum, right across from the back of the church. Modern, well lit, uncrowded, with good bathrooms, it's a real pleasure. The statue of John the Baptist in the ground floor courtyard is probably the best thing I saw in Italy. His fear yet acceptance of the sword is revealed in magnificent emotion. Michelangelo's last Pieta is here too. Unfinished and dissatisfied he supposedly took a hammer to it before being stopped.

Eat gelato, watch the hordes of tourists and shop if you must. I think Florence would be fun on a bicycle, it's flat and the drivers are amazingly polite with regard to cyclists. I even saw taxis yielding to bikes. The biggest hazard looked to be lines of tourists snaking across the square. Something for next time maybe.

The Vatican

2010-05-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

We arranged for a Vatican tour the following day. They supposedly have like 9 miles of art galleries or is it 90 different galleries or some absurd amount? Perhaps an intervention is in order? Our tour was to be the basics, take the bus over to Vatican City, get the orientation, see the Sistine Chapel and other heavy duty art.

Since the tour was in the afternoon we were able to walk around the local neighborhood. This included the Pantheon and environs. Highly recommended, the Pantheon is totally impressive and it's free. Guides will tell you that the hole in the roof doesn't allow any rain to come in due to mysterious and scientific reasons. I was amused to see the obvious drainage system in the floor but that might be just for non believers. Note the handy directional sign above provided by McDonalds. Like many things in Rome the Pantheon was built for Roman gods and later repurposed to Christianity. This saved the expense of a whole new building as well as made a definite statement about who's in charge now.

We took the hop-on bus from there to the train station to check out rental cars. Since the tour company office is right near we decided to go over there to catch the bus rather than going back to our hotel. After some amusing English/Italian misunderstandings this was all worked out. We had lunch and then got onto the tour bus. Vatican City was just a quick trip across the river and we off boarded at the museum entrance. Inside we were issued radios with earbuds so we could listen to the guide. I must admit I didn't listen much, so much guide speak just sounds the same. Also the guide was giving descriptions in English and French, so why is French 10 times as long to describe the same thing? It was like: "Here we enter the Vatican Museum" and then in French: "Ici on entreviez the gloriosez and magnificat muse de la grand pres important religion du monde. Attende le..." you get the idea.

The Sistine chapel is probably magnificent but suffers from presentation problems. First of all the art is on the ceiling, so far away you can't really see it. And the crowd filling the floor mostly consists of tourists who have lost their groups or others who are trying to sneak a photo or others who can't figure out where the exit is. The echo factor is tremendous so when someone steps on a kid's toe, the howl reverberates for minutes.

Not to worry about the problems with seeing the art, the exit, when you find it, takes you right into a gift shop with plenty of expensive coffee table books that you can study when you return home. In fact this is only one of the six total gift shops we passed through on our basic museum tour. By my estimations the Vatican as a whole must have approximately 54 (or 540?) gift shops in total. These days everyone needs to earn a buck but this seemed pretty tacky. Maybe the Vatican can sell some art back to the original owners if they need some money.

After the tour we were invited to visit an "approved" gift shop. I declined although my wife was intrigued by the statues and jewelry, all blessed by the pope. Well, not the actual pope but someone he assigned to the job so that's almost as good, isn't it? I have been told by a friend that on Sunday when the pope blesses the crowd in St. Peters square, enterprising vendors have piled up boxes full of trinkets so they can receive the real thing direct.

Since Vatican City is a company town, it's interesting to see the various uniforms worn by the employees. A handy pocket guide would be fun to be able to look up the outfits to see what they mean. It could be sort of like bird watching, with rewards for quantity and rarity of spottings. There would be no prize for noticing the silliest of them all, the Swiss Guards. I am assured they really are Swiss and I believe they can only serve in Rome for a limited period due to the stress of the ridiculous outfits. Supposedly designed by Michelangelo this proves again his perverse sense of humor as described by our guide while I wasn't listening.

Enough of that. We lined up a Fiat Punto for tomorrow, the agent assures me it's "a fine car, a Fiat". I don't really believe that "fine car" and "Fiat" belong in the same sentence but that might just be my prejudice, we shall find out tomorrow.

The eternal city

2010-05-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

Arriving in Rome is pretty simple, the baggage claim is slow and the air conditioning wasn't working but otherwise a normal airport. I had to wait a few hours for my wife and I was disappointed by the lack of a place to sit and eat or drink to wait. There was a "bar" which I learned more about as the days went by. A bar means a coffee place with few seats, if any, and a counter to lean up against to drink whatever coffee concoction your prefer. So I had a cappuccino and found another place to sit.

Wife arrived and we went to town. For E60 we took a taxi to the wrong hotel and then after a short hike to a nearby taxi stand and another ride we arrived at the correct hotel, Hotel 939. It's not named that anymore, which was part of our original problem, but it still does feature the narrow hallways and cramped rooms as seen on their website. The site was right on on some things however, the location is excellent, right in the heart of Rome and those "charmingly cobbled streets" did feature a late night yelling match in the charming alley outside our window.

The next morning we were ready to see the sights. We had purchased a ticket for one of the many "hop on - hop off" buses that circle the city so we just had to find the nearby stop. Our first bit of luck was noticing the bar just kitty corner from the hotel. With a small table to spread out our map and a couple coffees and pastries we were armed for the day. It was great fun to watch the locals come in to be greeted with a hearty "Bon Journo" from the espresso puller and take a couple minutes for their morning drink and a bit of local news. When we realized we'd been there longer than anyone else we took off toward the bus stop.

After a brief ride we arrived at the Colosseum. It is impressive and all but the statistics on the shear number of humans and animals that were killed here made it not very appealing, at least to me. Of more interest is the nearby Palatine hill where the emperors palaces were. Although now stripped of their fine marble and other art the area reeks of the power and glory that was Rome. From the hilltop one can go down to stroll through the Forum which was the center of the ancient city. Monuments have been built on monuments over the centuries so it's hard to get a feel for how it originally looked but it is the place where everything happened.

We walked over those three attractions in one day, I suggest you don't. The footing is rough from the rubble and cobblestones and there are plenty of steps to go up and down. Do half of it one day and the other the next. I think there is a two day pass that allows for this.

To top it off, we climbed up the Victor Emmanuel Monument and enjoyed the view back towards the Colosseum and the Forum. Quite possibly the most out of scale monument commemorating a pretty ordinary event, the unification of Italy, it does have a pretty nice cafe where you can sit and look down at the ancient city. It's also the seat of the city government but maybe you don't need to go poking around in the Mayor's offices like my spouse did. Pay more euros and take the elevator to the very top, we didn't. I was exhausted and my feet hurt. FWIW my few pictures can be found on my Italy picasa album.

Italy 2010

2010-05-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

I went to Italy. I actually got back two weeks ago but haven't written anything about my trip so now I'll try after Sarah gave me a prod over the weekend. The problem with Italy is that I don't know enough about it. Sure there were Romans and all that but who, why and when did they do what is not clear to me. Actually since I've been back I've researched some things so now I understand better the things we saw.

My wife was going on a business trip and had to return through Europe so she suggested we meet in Rome. Well, Rome sounds like a place to meet so off I went. SFO to YYZ, that's San Francisco to Toronto, I see TOR was already taken by an airport in Wyoming so maybe all that was left was YYZ. Air Canada flight, nothing special except maybe the Molson on board.

I must say I wasn't too happy with the Toronto airport, the immigration guy told me that since my layover was more that 6 hours (by 10 minutes) that I would have to do the full entry to the country thing. It wasn't a real issue, after all Canada and the U.S. haven't fought any wars lately, but the problem was that it meant walking from the arrival gate the length of the terminal to the front curb and then all the way back to my departure gate. When I was waiting there I realized I had ended up just one gate away from where I arrived after a mile walk. Maybe the 6 hours is enough to qualify for citizenship? I should have had some health care while I was there.

In the airport I sure knew I was in Canada. The newspapers were full of hockey news and the TV monitors were all showing hockey news. Eh? Another thing about Canada is that everything is written in English and French. That includes all the signs and package labels and everything. It must be expensive to do all that, but I guess they have to to keep everybody happy. So I was off on AC 890 on a Boeing 767 just like the picture above. Next stop Leonardo daVinci airport Rome (FCO). Except as we found out nobody uses that name, it's know as Fiumicino after the small town that's nearby.

Things I don't necessarily get

2010-04-06T17:36:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's just me, but there are some things that I just don't get. Here they are:

Why is South Airport Blvd north of the airport? This one has bothered me for years and I noticed it again last Sunday. On 101 south from San Francisco to SFO the sign says "So Airport Blvd" like about 2 miles north of the airport.
Speaking of airplanes, often when coming into a airport the pilot will announce the temperature, wind and visibility. Like "visibility 12 miles". Dude, that's your problem, if it's enough to land the plane then it's enough for me. I would only care if there is so much fog that I couldn't see the road thank you very much.
Another favorite of mine that's maybe not to most people is the sign on I880 that announces "A Street Downtown". I'm really glad there's a street downtown, after all every downtown needs a street. I hope all of you driving past Hayward will get bugged too after reading this.
Behind me on the tube the Stanford women are up 12 to 5 in the NCAA finals and good for them. Flipped over and Houston and S.F. are tied in the second game of the season. Nothing says spring more than the rhythm of a baseball game. Yesterday at the first game the original President Bush was seated behind the plate and stayed for the whole game. Today he's back in the same seat and good for him too, nothing to do with politics but a guy who loves baseball and stays to the last pitch is something in my book.
So who's the genius that put the NCAA logo on the top of the backboard so that when the camera is shooting down for a free throw we get reminded what mega corporation in putting on the show. Oh, sorry, it's scholar athletes right?

I could go on about why the best places to turn left have "no left turn" signs or such similar nonsense. It's obvious to me that UConn is losing to Stanford because they have a man for a coach. How can he snap towels on the players after practice? Isn't that the essence of coaching?

Maybe I can think of more annoyances in the future but this will do for now. Hard to be grouchy with two good games on the tube.

Sports Betting

2010-04-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Watching the Manchester United v. Chelsea match this morning, I was noticing the ads being shown on the electronic side boards. Besides the usual airlines and Budweiser, BetFair was featured. And there were odds being displayed to. Odds for Chelsea winning the league and later the odds for ManU winning. That's convenient for the punters (as the British call them) and maybe they will rush to the phone or downtown to the local betting parlor to get in on the action. When the score got to 2-1 for Chelsea I noticed the odds had changed. Odds of Chelsea winning the league had gone from 2.1 to 1.75. How's that for real time on the pitch action?

The American sports leagues have a very delicate relationship with betting. In most of the states betting is illegal, but everyone knows that if it were not for the office pools on the NCAA basketball tournament there would be a lot less interest and TV audience. Illegal (and legal) betting on American football is well known as a major contributor to ratings as well. Right now I am watching the San Francisco Giants opening day game coming in from Houston. Guess what the first ad was? A local casino.

I prefer the British plan, make betting legal and available and it's no big deal. As you can see from some of those links in the previous paragraph betting in the U.S. is alive and well. By the way it's not true that most of the English Premier League (EPL) teams are sponsored by betting establishments. As of today (it changes regularly) only three out of the 20 EPL teams are; Sunderland, Tottenham and, West Ham. Unless you consider AIG a casino who had sponsored Manchester United but have now canceled that deal.

BTW, Chelsea defeated ManU 2-1 to go the to head of the table. My hero Didier Drogba had a goal after being brought in on a substitution. Despite a red card in a previous Chelsea UEFA cup game he will be ready to play for Cote d'Ivoire in the upcoming World Cup. Talk about betting, I wonder how many billions of how many currencies will be riding on those games?

He lives in a pineapple under the sea

2010-03-27T22:03:00.000-07:00

Took the grand kid to the airport this morning for his flight back to St. Louis, home. Four weeks or a little less that the five year old has been staying here. Sponge Bob Square Pants will be in my mind for weeks. Maddox, aka Maddy, Madoo, Madman, Mahouligan, babe.

Master Maddox is on a year around school plan so he doesn't get one long summer vacation, just four quarterly short breaks. I actually turned the channel to Sponge Bob just now to see what's up since the regular fair is so bad. Squidward was making a bet with Sponge Bob that he couldn't go a whole day without crying. And the Wii has gone back too, we had made it up to the first level of the V session in the D.R.I.V.E. lessons. Yes, that's a Sponge Bob product too. The infectious little tune will be rolling around my brain for weeks as well.

We built a sailboat (and sailed it), climbed a hill, swung the swing, watched a train, explored a sunken boat, sat in the hot tub, rode bikes, got the mail, looked at a frog, cleaned the pool filter, ate breakfast, and sometimes did absolutely nothing at all. In the words of Madoo, "Grandpa Jim and I are really good at doing nothing".

Want to keep lively? Give a 5 year old a hose with a sprayer. See you in June.

The most dangerous man in America

2010-03-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

Saw this movie last night. For those that don't know, it's a documentary about Daniel Ellseberg and the events surrounding what were known as the Pentagon Papers. These were top secret documents released by Ellsberg in 1971 as part of his opposition to the Vietnam War. I must say that my memories of this period lean more towards being away from home for the first time, college freshman, and my only thought about the war was related to making sure I wouldn't be participating.

The Pentagon Papers were a secret study commissioned by the government that detailed the deliberate increase in military commitment to Vietnam at a time when the government was saying that the plan was to reduce the U.S. presence. Today the fact that the government was lying doesn't sound like big news but I guess those were gentler times. I, like a lot of people today, immediately assume our government is lying or at least covering up the truth on a regular basis.

It's an interesting and at times entertaining movie. I suppose Ellsberg should be proud to be on the list of people that irritated President Nixon enough to be termed an S.O.B on tape. There does seem to be some revisionist history going on though. The film makes it seem like Ellsberg was pretty much responsible for bringing down Nixon. Watergate gets only a brief mention and that only because the "plumbers" were also responsible for breaking into Ellsberg's psychiatrist's office and stealing his files. I think a more balanced view would be to give Ellsberg credit for great courage in exposing the government's duplicity and credit him with being a major force in Nixon's downfall but he was definitely not the whole show.

The venue for the film was the Marines Memorial Club in the City. Ellsberg and former Representative Pete McCloskey were present and there was a brief discussion after the movie moderated by Robert Rosenthal. McCloskey was notable at the time for his opposition to the war and he was one of several congress members that Ellsberg had tried to give the papers to before going to the New York Times. The Times started publishing but was stopped by government injunction. The Washington Post then took up the publication until they were stopped. In all, it took 14 newspapers to get the complete 7,000 pages published as each one was shutdown by the government. The venue played an interesting role, Ellsberg and McCloskey had been Marines before their later careers. The M.C., a retired Marine general, recognizing the military sponsorship, cast the discussion in terms of their military experience. Ellsberg mentioned the inherent conflict between his Marine training of following orders and his sworn oath to protect the constitution. I was surprised to hear how well accepted was doing the right thing despite the fact that it was against the current government policy. Maybe Marines can be people too.

I wonder if we could have an Ellsberg today or do we even need one? We are lacking any strong newspapers (or media of any type) that would be willing to stand up against the government to protect the truth. The internet media that has replaced the traditional system is only interested in the sensationalism that generates click through revenue. Our world today is full of leaks engineered for political gain and no one really pays that much attention. And we are all so used to government lying that there would be no great reaction if more is revealed. That's the thing about the Pentagon Papers, although most didn't read them or even know the details, it was a major shock to the society that our government carried on a purposeful deception over the course of four presidents. We carry that legacy forward today in our distrust of all politicians and government pronouncements. At least I do.

Walnut Creek Budget

2010-03-12T15:23:00.000-08:00

My home town, like many communities around the country is having budget problems. Walnut Creek, California is a generally an affluent community but the reduction in property tax revenue due to lower house prices has had an impact. Property and sales taxes together make up more than half of the city income. Of the sales taxes a majority comes from vehicle sales that are also down this year.

So the city has been crying poor and talking about layoffs and reduced services and higher fees. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on your views, the city has also committed to building a $35 million library which isn't helping. So I've been looking through the budget proposed and adopted for the next two years. And I've looked at some other local city's budgets too. Concentrating on my town, since they are nice enough to put the whole thing on their web site, I am struck by one thing. Why is it that the police personnel budget went up $5 million when the number of officers has remained the same? That's about a 15% increase.

Check out the details. Looking at the police department table A we see that the "personnel services" went from $33.175M in 2006-2008 to $38.975M for 2008-2010. Scroll down to the next chart and you see the staffing level has remained the same at 119 FTE.

That $5M would certainly come in handy in some other departments. The posted budget documents do not break out this increase. But one may suppose it's salary and benefits. These days police salaries and benefits are all set by collective bargaining agreements. I would say these unions are doing well for their members. And these unions have made police compensation off limits to budget cutting efforts. A concerted public relations campaign emphasizing the dangers of police work and other scare tactics keep city officials at bay. A steady diet of lawsuits keeps the unions on top.

Valuable as the police may be, I think it's time they became part of the real world. I haven't gotten any 15% raises in a long while and I don't see why they should either. Sorry guys, but the party has got to be over.

Grass Bombs

2010-03-05T20:35:00.000-08:00

Here in northern California we are just about to reach the peak of the season. I mean the season for the local Grass Bomb. It takes our clay soil most of the winter for the water to soak into the root zone. The grass seeds that have waited all fall and winter are bursting out. The roots need to grow out enough to be able to grab a great ball of wet clay. The warming weather drives the grass to grow tall and strong. It's time.

Go up on a local hill, if the path is too wet and slippery, then go around the south side or higher up. Take a big handful of grass and pull. If it pulls out with no dirt attached, then you are in a too dry area, look around for more moisture. If it pulls out a big clump of dirt with your perfect grass handle, you've got it, the grass bomb. Throw it at somebody.

That's how I grew up. In fact one of your scout leaders took us out on the perfect day and we had a glorious fight. Usually we just did it amongst our kid crowd. If you are uphill from your opponents it's easy to sling massive bombs down onto their heads. From the downhill side, grab a bomb and run up as fast as you can and smack it down on that guy's head.

Better do it this weekend, things dry out really fast. Then the grass starts to brown and the stickers start to stick and well, it's summer before you even know it.

My Favorite Animal

2010-03-04T07:43:00.000-08:00

Last year while on safari, we had my 5 year old grandson along. For some reason everyone we me asked him two questions: how old are you, and what's your favorite animal? The first question was easily answered since kids are asked that constantly from a very early age. He had trouble with the second, I think he never understood why there should be a favorite animal, aren't they all pretty neat?

I have a favorite animal and it's pictured here. The buffalo, or cape buffalo to westerners. They are well know as extremely dangerous to the hunter, and I respect that. An animal should be dangerous to anything that is trying to kill it.

In the herd these guys are mostly docile. On one occasion our guide drove us right into the middle of a large herd of buffalo that were grazing along the river. It was quite a treat to be surrounded by these huge things all of which were tearing off huge mouthfuls of grass. The sound alone was impressive. The guide told us we were safe because in the herd the buffalo feels secure.

Another day we came across two large males off by themselves in the bush. The guide stopped our jeep a long way off so we could observe. They weren't doing much but the guide let use know this was a potentially dangerous situation and he wasn't getting any closer. The older males like this can get kicked out of the herd at some point and become loners or as in this case pair up with another.

Buffalo in this situation are anything but secure. Without the herd to protect them they are vulnerable to attack from lions or even an ambitious leopard. This puts them in a bad mood and they can charge at most anything with the slightest provocation. These big ones with their magnificent horns are the ones most targeted by hunters. A wounded buffalo will typically run away and then hide waiting for a chance to ambush the hunters. I applaud the buffalo for this, we've got plenty of hunters and maybe less game all the time.

For only $12,500 you too can kill one of these beasts. But I suggest you don't, let them live to impress us with their strength and cunning.

She's off

2010-03-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

About now my daughter is sleeping over in Joburg on her way to Madagascar. Took her to the airport Saturday morning for the first flight to Washington DC. United, easy checkin and into the security line almost before I had a goodbye hug. She was tearing up and so was I. What was I going to do now? Last one out of the nest and so far away. Thankfully her bag got ripped en route so my wife could do one last mommy thing and arrange for a cousin to meet her and buy a new bag. Did you know that Walmart can be open until midnight even on Sunday? I got to help over the phone to buy a new recharger for the camera battery that had been misplaced.

On the way home from SFO the clouds were breaking up and our bay was bathed in brilliant sunlight. An Evergreen lines container ship was under the bridge heading out for points east. On Angel island a couple white buildings were peaking out between the trees, bright bright bright. Alcatraz even looked like brand new.

I drove home in a daze. Sure the world can be a glorious place but what was I to do in it? Mulling all this over in my mind as I navigated on auto pilot. Drove right past our exit.

How Berkeley can you be?

2010-02-25T13:09:00.000-08:00

We've heard of East meets West, North and South but only in Berkeley can you find the epicenter of East meets South. I was in the People's Republic of Berkeley yesterday looking for a particular kind of LED for my project. Heading west on University Avenue at McGee I nearly drove into the parked cars. The sign said "Halal Burritos". So if you are of that persuasion but just love a good burrito there's a place for you, in the place that has everyplace, our beloved Berkeley. (Yelp lists 15 Ethiopian restaurants in that fair town).

Since I got what my project needed I'll throw in a plug for Al Lasher's electronics. On University avenue it's been there forever and remains one of the few good old kind of places that will have what you need. They staff know their stuff and the prices are reasonable, especially when you compare to ordering on line with shipping and all. I had melted the one unit I had and was desperate for another one. Simple phone call and I was on my way. My one complaint about that store is parking. The meters give 4 minutes for a dime. Not hardly enough time to exchange pleasantries and pay. No comrade, I'm not complaining, just looking for a better way to praise the glory of the proletariat paradise.

Aid and Corruption

2010-02-22T08:39:00.000-08:00

Last month the U.S. and Great Britain both cut off education aid to Kenya. The U.S. had promised $7 milllion and the U.K. about $15 million. Why? Because an audit showed that $1 million per month was disappearing from the Kenyan education ministry. Who suffers from this action? The students and the teachers who are trying to learn and teach.

Unfortunately this sort of dilemma is not unusual for countries that contribute aid to the developing world. On the one hand there is a desperate need and on the other hand one can't just keep supplying money to be stolen by corrupt officials. In the Kenyan case the corruption reaches into the highest levels of the government. You can make a good argument that no money should be sent to Kenya at all, no matter how good the cause.

The whole affair is just too sad. Kenya amongst its poorer neighbors has every opportunity to be a thriving economy. Sure they've had troubles with drought but to read the CIA factbook account of the economy will just make you cry. The U.S. ambassador has been unusually outspoken on these issues, suggesting that the corrupt officials not just be sacked, the usual treatment if any, but "put behind bars". Not likely to happen.

In these cases, it's rarely a single individual who is pocketing the money. More usually there is a network of criminal officials all taking their part. The "successful" corrupt minister will make sure all his underlings get some so that he can take the bulk of the cash and everyone is happy and quiet. In an emergency a couple junior officials can be thrown to the wolves if investigators get too close. The students are left to slog along with inadequate schools as best they can. And the ministers kids are probably in boarding schools in England.

Not your fathers...

2010-02-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

I mean like 30 plus years ago I went into the Peace Corps with a few simple things. My Dad had made me a kind of big box that turned out to be just the right thing. In Ghana where I ended up, the schools were mostly boys boarding schools and the boys all came with a box very similar to mine. They were known as chop boxes. Mine was a little larger so when I arrived I was already famous for the largest chop box. On the bus coming over I didn't really understand any of this, just that people were making jokes about my box which I of course didn't really understand. But I guess if we were all laughing then that's fine with me.

Now my daughter is going off on a similar mission but in a bit of a different way. She's off to Africa with an iPod, Blackberry and a net book. It's true that the world has changed and there is cell coverage in a lot of places that you wouldn't expect. For example, as of a couple of years ago Namibia had excellent coverage on all the roads and towns. But the Peace Corps is really about sending off some young Americans and letting the world enjoy their youth and enthusiasm. If they do some good then that's great too. JFK created the Peace Corps and fired it with his joy of sending American kids off to the world.

The village I was sent to had phones. The oil mill was phone number 1, the school was number 2, and the headmaster's house was number 3.

I wish her well, but part of me hopes that the ipod and the blackberry will get dumped into the river and the netbook will be thrown down the hill into the swamp. Then she will learn a thing or two about how the world works.

Today's I-idiot

2010-02-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

Getting on the elevator today at the 5th and Mission garage I thought to myself "5th floor, back side". So I pushed the button labeled "5". Next to me the latest in hipster idiots was looking on his i-phone for the picture he had taken of the floor number when he parked his car. He showed it to his friend, "See 4th floor, B".

I suppose since his brain has lost the ability to think or remember anything except what Steve Jobs wore at last year's MacWorld there was a need for a crutch. $400 ought to do it, a device to remember where you parked your car. BTW, Steve Jobs always wears the same thing at these events and Apple is no longer associated with MacWorld. Maybe those facts will eventually sink into our dude on the town's smallish cranium. In the meantime you can pay 99 cents to get an even more absurd way to find your car. G-Park.

In related news, the Winter Olympics has started in Vancouver. This time even though the events are being held in my time zone I will have little chance to see anything live. Only condensed consumerized advertising lead ins featuring U.S. athletes no matter how far down the standings they are as long as NBC has a touching story all fabricated and ready to show. In a breathtaking example of modern executive speak Dick Ebersol admits that the network will lose money, "but it's not because of the ad sales". So Dick, the fact that the crap you are producing doesn't sell ads, because it doesn't interest viewers, has nothing to do with it? NBC claims we actually prefer "prime time" replays.

You will be happy to know that Manchester United sold their 500 million pound bond issue so they can juggle their finances and stay afloat until the next crisis. They don't have any more Renaldos to sell and Giggs just broke his arm so there's likely trouble ahead on the field. Don't worry though, Fergie says he will clamp down as usual. What a nice guy.

Customer service

2010-02-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

My turn to rant about the collapse of civilization as evidenced by Amazon customer service. I had some money ($20) in my Amazon account that I wanted out, transferred to my bank account. I'd done this before, no problem, fill in a couple fields and hit go. This time the page had changed, the new default for transferring money was to buy an Amazon gift card. I don't know why anyone would want a gift card, they just seem to me to be a way for a store to get your money and force you it spending it with them. In fact that is exactly what an Amazon gift card is, a way to lock you into spending with them.

When I realized my mistake, I sent them a request to back out the transaction using the feedback form and called them on the phone too. Amazing how hard it is to find a phone number of these sites isn't it. I actually found it in someones blog who had had a dispute with Amazon and posted the number in case others couldn't find it. I spoke to a nice lady in India who assured my that this was no problem and it would be taken care of right away. Fine, I slept happy that night.

The next morning I received an email from Amazon saying flat no. Can't be done, too bad. So I sent another message and called too. Got hung up on 3 times while waiting to talk to a supervisor. The last time I told the rep that she should stand up in her cubicle and shout and wave her hands and get a supervisor to come over and I wasn't going to be put on hold again. That sort of worked, I talked to someone else who had me talk to someone else who assured me that there is no phone number to the payments folks and that all he could do was send them a message which he did.

The next day I got a call from someone in Seattle. He was a bit vague but assured me that he would look into this. And indeed there is no number for payments so all he could do was send them a message on my behalf. I wasn't too pleased by this time.

The next day, I got an email apology from Amazon. It seems that page where the transfers are made had been changed so that the default was to buy a gift card. I wonder how many other people got caught by this? The page has been redesigned and my money was refunded. I immediately transferred it to my bank.

I suppose it's just another tale of our times and should surprise no one. But come on people, why does everything have to be so hard? Did you know that the arrow in the Amazon logo that points from A to Z represents complete customer satisfaction? I feel better already.

The Way

2010-02-06T07:37:00.000-08:00

I just finished reading The Way of a Ship, Alan Villiers. Originally published in 1953 the book chronicles the peak of the age of sail, the big square rigged "Cape horners", and then their demise as steam powered ships took over. Also in the mix is a fair dose of technical details of how these ships are operated, how the economics worked, the men (and a couple of woman) who sailed them. Villiers had a long career as a sailor, owner, author, and photographer starting during WW1 when he went to sea in Australia.

Villiers bought part ownership of the Parma (model pictured) in 1931, at that time the largest sailing ship in the world. Despite the bad economy at the time, Parma made money carrying wheat from Australia to Europe. This was one of the last runs where sail competed successfully with steam, the other being the nitrate trade between Chile and Europe. The grain trade evolved into a kind of race with the first ship of the season that arrived in England commanding a higher price for her cargo. This trade was in some ways similar to the tea trade of the 1860's where the first ship from China carrying the seasons tea harvest was well rewarded.

One theme that runs through the book is the changing of an era. Villiers faces head on the fact that steamships were driving his beloved ships off the ocean, but that doesn't stop him from feeling they will be missed and the world a lesser place without them. The sailors lived a healthy life of fresh air and exercise, not confined to the stinking 'tween decks of a coal burning monster. The sailing captains, or more properly masters, were a unique breed of technician, businessman and strict disciplinarian, not like the slothful steamship captain whose main duty involved dining with the passengers. Even today, there are some full rigged training ships that operate on the presumption that even though sailors will never need to brace a yard in their actual career they will be better off because they've done it.

I guess technological changes always bring out this fondness for the past and the belief that people were better off back then. Witness the computer veteran who will regale you with stories of how "real men" punched cards and hung tapes, not like the current crop of sissies who don't understand that java is something you drink.

The reality is that the fresh air the sailors enjoyed could be a freezing gale around Cape Horn and they did occasionally fall off the topgallant yard into the boiling ocean and were never seen again. But they were real men, not the babies who today touch a button to navigate their container ship through the warm waters of the Panama canal.

Football finance

2010-02-03T16:45:00.000-08:00

Even you non sports fans have heard of Manchester United. Supposedly the most valuable franchise in professional sports anwhere. At least it was, word is out now that the team has more than 700 million pounds of debt. ( no pound symbol on this keyboard). For fiscal 2009 they paid 41M in interest on that debt. Good thing they sold Christiano Renaldo for 80M otherwise they would have had a big loss.

You see football works a little differently than sports you may be used to. The teams own the players and can buy and sell or loan them out as they see fit. It's like slavery, at least that's the term that was used by the FIFA boss, Sepp Blatter. Don't worry though, Mr. Renaldo gets some cash too.

ManU did just what all those repossessed homeowners in Riverside did, took out a huge loan to buy the house not worrying about payments because everything goes up all the time anyway, right? But ManU's got better bankers that the poor sod in the "Inland Empire". They've got a plan to sell bonds to get everything straightened out. Pardon my ignorance but if you are in dept up to your eyeballs and then take on more dept in terms of bonds then you're better off how? Hopefully you're better off because the bond interest rates will be lower than the exhorbitant rates that the mob, ah, hedge funds are changing now.

How the heck did some Americans end up owning the pride of England anyway? It's OK that a Russian owns Chelsea, cause you know Russians are the mob, and some Arabs own some other team I can't remember because they never get to go out on Saturday so if they own a team then it'll be OK to have what little fun they are allowed. Malcolm Glazer, the American owner of ManU also owns the Tampa Bay NFL team. They are just horrible but the town built them a stadium so they can now pay with taxes and tickets to see this disaster on the field. Manchester has got a good stadium for now so that's covered, I have to wonder if the town would put up some cash to buy another good player or two and regain their glory. Probably not, but then the Brits are often happy supporting a lame team with a lot of past glory so they can just get along like that.

World news roundup

2010-02-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

English soccer team captain John Terry (not the picture) is in the news after a steamy affair with a teamates ex-girlfriend was revealed. It is not true that Terry complained that with his $300,000 a week salary it was "hard to find something to do". And this after recently being named "Dad of the Year" by a ketchup company.

The CAF (Confederation African Football or something) announced that Togo will be banned from the next two cup of nations tournaments. Togo had the bad luck to have it's team buses attacked while traveling in Angola last month for this tournament. No players were injured but three people were killed and Togo pulled out of the games. Not everyone thought this was a reasonable decision, Emmanuel Adebayor (picture) the Togo captain didn't. Also CAF fined TOGO $50,000. That will teach them to get attacked.

In news from the kitchen, the contest winner for the best recipe for snails has been chosen. We're talking about the huge ones commonly seen in West African markets. Although often likened to eatiing pencil erasers the winning entry proves that doesn't have to be the case. Quoting here: "Boil them for about 4 hours and then throw them away."

Playing fair

2010-01-30T12:28:00.000-08:00

Two ex-executives of Willbros company recently got jail sentences for the crime of bribing Nigerian officials in order to win a gas pipeline contract. That's a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act that was enacted in 1977. The FBI just this week charged a bunch more U.S and U.K. citizens with bribing an African official as part of an arms deal.

I find it interesting that in neither case has there been any fallout on the African side. No officials in Nigeria have been arrested in the first case and you will notice in the second that the country involved has not been revealed. This sounds a bit one sided doesn't it? American justice puts these guys in jail for giving money to Africans who take it and laugh all the way to the bank.

Other countries don't have or don't enforce a similar law. I'm talking about Russia, China and India. All three are doing their best to grab African resources. Without the threat of legal sanctions back home, they are spreading around millions of dollars and getting what they want. In the DRC in 2008, China grabbed copper, cobalt and other mines in return for building infrastructure. That means road, schools, hospitals etc, $9 billion worth. The deal gives china rights to 10 million tons of copper which at a 2010 price (conservatively) of $5000 per ton, works out to be $50 billion. (there's also 600,000 tons of cobalt) Not a great deal for the country perhaps, but I assure you it was a great deal for the DRC government officals. Similar deals are happening throughout Africa.

So is it fair for American companies not to be able to engage in business practices, I mean bribes, that other companies use routinely? Since the Africans seem unable to stop the incoming bribes on their side then it is up to these other countries to stop the practice. Is this likely, not very.

The power of instant messaging.

2010-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

Keeping to my current rant against stupid modern technologies, or at least the worship thereof, let us consider the evil that instant messaging can do. For example, in the recent riots in Jos, Nigeria one of the factors that incited the violence was a flurry of instant messages urging, f0r instance:

"War, war, war. Stand up... and defend yourselves. Kill before they kill you. Slaughter before they slaughter you. Dump them in a pit before they dump you."

Once this gets started and then forwarded and new messages get added and the whole mess multiplies innumerable times everyone is bound to be scared and edgy. The slightest provocation turns into real violence. I've experienced this on a much smaller scale in Lagos last year. Somebody got a message about gunfire in our area, then forwarded it to all their friends and then they all replied back that they did or didn't hear anything and then those message all got forwarded. Thanks to modern technology, this rumor was able to spread faster than was ever before possible.

All I'm saying is, let's have some common sense here people. Think before you send a message or act when you receive one. In the person to person days of the distant past you could challenge the person and say "Hey, are you sure, where'd you hear that?" Now a days every message carries the same weight, and should be greeted with skepticism and caution. Remember what the dog said.

The above cartoon by Peter Steiner has been reproduced from page 61 of July 5, 1993 issue of The New Yorker, (Vol.69 (LXIX) no. 20)only for academic discussion, evaluation, research and complies with the copyright law of the United States as defined and stipulated under Title 17 U. S. Code.

Let them eat iPods

2010-01-27T15:49:00.000-08:00

The recent earthquake in Haiti is without question a disaster of major proportions. People throughout the world have donated whatever they could to help out. But there is one group that just makes me react like fingernails on a blackboard. They call their effort "Crisis Camp". Listen to this: "For a second straight week, hundreds of CrisisCamp volunteers" well, I guess that means they're into for the long term, not. What is this army of volunteers doing? They're programming, you know, coding, like all the cool connected twittering facebook weanies think is so, well, cool and important.

I just can't grasp how disconnected from reality this bunch is. Just what are they coding? How about the Haiti Hospital Capacity Finder. You know to ensure that the hospitals are used efficiently. Uh, people, there aren't any hospitals that's the problem. What few there were are now rubble. Or how about the Disaster Accountability Project, sort of a help desk for victims to call up and get help. Call on what? The phone they never had and certainly don't have access to now. To leave their address so help can be dispatched, except that that address is now a pile of debris and nobody's there anymore.

Like most disasters there are alway people quick to see opportunities. Like this clown who is crowing about the great things his group can do. See how happy he is, nothing is more pleasing to him than a stage to walk onto and proclaim the good things that he can do.

For spoiled American brats who think twitter will save the world, let me propose a clue. Get your nose out of your computer and realize that there are places with no food, no water, and no electricity. How do they charge their iPods? How about thinking about these basic issues before forming up a project to take twitter feeds and form pipes through linkedin groups gathering facebook friends and producing absolutely nothing that helps anyone except for the egos that it strokes. And by the way, don't just send money either. We've been doing that for years and it all gets stolen by the government officials.

Last Night

2010-01-26T12:45:00.000-08:00

All over the world, the true Scotsmen got out their kilts that had been packed away wherever it was and celebrated. Robert Burns' birthday. I wasn't invited this year, or had any ticket, but it reminds me of this very special occasion.

On January 25 anywhere in the world you will find these skirted gentlemen and their lady's parading the haggis and mouthing the traditional verses. And drinking some Scotch whisky to boot. Spelled correctly Scotch has no "e', as in whisky, Irish has the "e" as in whiskey. In the States it can go either way.

The Scotch are kind of like the the Irish but less fun. Both located on the north end of the English homeland, both with histories of revolution and starvation. Scotch are known for stinginess and the Irish for generosity. Both are known for emigration, the Irish to New York, the Scots to the rest of the world. In the old British India for example, the "British" army officers were more that 80% Scottish. These days the oil industry engineers in crappy places worldwide are about 50% Scots.

Funny about Robert Burns, besides his poetry his other claim to fame was his adultery, fornication, drinking and rebellion against religion and morality. At least according to this author.

Golf was invented and is still revered on the windswept moors of Scotland. Always adultery has been a sidelight to the game. I wonder if Tiger could write a few verses and get some fans back on his side.

The new reality

2009-10-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

Back in the early '20s we first saw the autobots. Since people had become bored with navigating their avatars around their favorite virtual world, WoW or whatever, they automated them. These bots ran around greeting everyone. "Good morning, nice weather", or "Good afternoon, bad weather". This got annoying but it let the real people go back to their real life. I'm not sure the real people actually enjoyed their real life, but there it is.

The next step was an autobot that could roam on it's own and collect money. You will remember BillBot of course, it was so stupid but loveable and could make simple deals that we all went for. Who could resist their own private island? Since BillBot could make them apparently without limit and sell them at least in the beginning he made lots of money. After a while when people (real) realized that the islands were worthless being endless the charm wore off. But BillBot evolved other strategies.

The real breakthrough was when BillBot's "owner" died. His children, wife and other hangers on had no idea that the real Bill had another life. So when Bill's computer was recycled, I heard it ended up in a 419 parlor in Nigeria, BillBot lived on. There seemed to be an increasing number of these bots, but the "game" administrators couldn't be sure. They paid their dues, they were active, they responded to polls and other requests.

The virtual world companies spent more and more (real) money supporting the ever growing communities. Too bad most of the members were bots! Then the whole economy was going to collapse, then the govmnt bailed them out then... Oh, what the heck, I think I'll sit under a (real) tree. Web design for food?

There is a season

2009-10-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple years I've missed the seasons, at least the ones I grew up on. In West Africa, we had the big rains, the small rains, harmattan, and dry season. But truth be told, they were all pretty similar, hot and humid, or maybe hotter and a bit less humid. And the sunrise and sunset never really changed much. One astronomer tried to explain to me that even on the equator the length of the days change due to the eliptical orbit of the earth around the sun. That may be, but from a practical standpoint it's 0600 sunrise, 1800 sunset, year around.

Today, in my California home, we are having fall, at least our version on it. After some really hot days in August, 100F + afternoons, then some cooler days, kind of a teaser, then in mid September another really hot week, our indian summer, now it's back to a cool and breezy afternoon. The light is weaker and the sunset sooner and it feels like Halloween.

The Buckeye tree has lost all it's leaves and the fruit are hanging down. The acorns have been hitting Wayne's shed for a couple weeks, but this year not so many. They do hit with a bang however, like a kid throwing rocks against a fence.

I think it will take a full cycle to get myself back into synch. I look forward to the rain and then the greening of the hills and the rush into summer. That's the northern California year that I grew up in, I guess it's in my bones. After all that I hope to feel like I'm back home.

Secrets

2009-09-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

There seem to be a lot of people who think that the world around them is full of people who know stuff that they don't. If they could only find out those things, then life would be a breeze. That stuff they don't know is called "secrets". I have reached this conclusion based on number of internet sites that purport to let you in on the secrets that only they know, but now you, the average schlub, can know too. Once you know the secret you will be rich, beautiful, smart, sexy, and happy. Check out some of my favorites.

The greatest number of secrets involve diet. Rather than admit that the way to lose weight is to eat less, we spend an amazing amount of time looking (and paying) for secrets.

Of course there must be secrets to making money since the people who have a lot of it don't seem to have to work for it like we do so there must be a secret. One secret to making money is of course to make money selling the secret.

We all feel that we're getting ripped off when buying cars, so there must be secrets we don't know. The same goes for other purchases too.

The list goes on... We love health secrets, especially if it's a drinking is good for us kind of secret.

Around the house, you may need some of these

Well, you get the idea. I'll leave you with police secrets, sex secrets, medical secrets, government secrets, alien secrets, secrets of the ancients and the mind boggling colon secrets. Too bad people looking for secrets don't spend their time more productively, like learning about what's really going on instead of chasing bullshit. Maybe they just need the secret of life.

Small victories

2009-09-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

Amongst the chaos and frustration of everyday life, I do have the occasional small victory. Something that I'm proud of, just for me, I don't expect or need for anyone else to notice. For example:

This laptop, a Dell B130, hasn't had a working battery for years. The bracket keys are missing too, which can be inconvenient. Turns out my brother has the same laptop with a good battery but it won't work on the AC adapter. This seemed to be some kind of opportunity to maybe have one completely whole working laptop. He brought over his laptop and we verified that both AC adapters were good, one battery good, one bad.

In summary: laptop A with bad battery and missing keys, laptop B with good battery, good keyboard and bad connection somewhere inside.

Today while grandson and grand nephews were whooping it up, I retreated to the garage to see what I could do. With the help of the Dell service info, I disassembled laptop B right down to removing the motherboard. Looking closely at where the barrel connector plugs into the board, I could see one connection that looked burnt. Maybe I'd be lucky. So I cleaned around that area and soldered it nice and shiny. Reassembling I worked backwards through the motherboard, speakers, antenna, modem, coin battery, screen, keyboard, trim pieces, disk, processor, heatsink, DVD player, and memory. All the little tiny connectors and screws and pieces that I had carefully laid out in a kind of zen calm.

No screws left over, or missing. All parts accounted for, well I did have to go back a couple steps because I had forgotten the coin battery. Plugged it in. By god, it worked. Booted right up, requested date and time. Keyboard and mouse worked, display clear, connected to my network.

That was my victory today, but it's not the end result that really matters, it's the calm of the moments leading up to it that I treasure. All those little bits had been dancing to my tune.

In the news this week

2009-09-25T09:42:00.000-07:00

From the Nigeria news two items to ponder.

In the Lagos area, text messages have been flying similar to this:

“Tell your loved ones and anybody you know. Apple is now a poisonous fruit to eat. All the ones imported into the country currently are contaminated and have been killing people. The statistics is nation wide and increasing. This message is from NAFDAC. It is not a rumour”.

Just the sort of rumor that once started spreads like wildfire. In a country where the newspapers have very little credibility and the government less, there's no stopping it. In a recent incident regarding contaminated baby medicine the government first denied the problem and only later admitted many children had been sickened.

The second news item is just mind boggling. The government has been offering money and retraining to militants who turn in their weapons. This has brought in tons of rusted obsolete weapons and a few militants. As for the training, the first class of 298 has graduated. Quoting the government.

"The ex-militants received training in mechanics, music, football, computer applications, seafaring and drama."

I'm a bit concerned that this flood of trained thespians may overwhelm the drama industry, and are we sure these newly trained footballers will understand that it's actually a game? No shooting or kidnapping on the pitch please.

It's all a big strain on my incredulity circuits but they are holding for now. Makes me think about this phenomenon of a country with 21st century communications and no trusted sources of information. Sort of like where America is heading.

The turkeys next door

2009-09-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

No, I don't mean the neighbors, I mean real live turkeys, wild ones. We've been invaded.

Last night was a wild one. As predicted two weeks ago, thank you very much, we got our annual september thunderstorm. My daughter came over with her new puppy (Hudson) so I was expecting things to be livelier than usual but this went beyond expectations. This pup, a golden retriever, is about as mellow as a puppy can be, seems to need a lot of sleep. Not too hip on the retrieving thing yet, but that will come. Just happy to run around for a while, then take a nap. Repeat as needed.

We put the puppy in the fenced side yard and he seemed to be doing OK. But after a while he seemed to be pretty uncomfortable. This is a city dog and while our house is not exactly in the deep woods we do have lots of critters around. The night was full of unfamiliar noises and Hudson was relieved to be let in so he could curl up in his bed.

Moments after coming in, a raccoon fight erupted in the yard. Lots of hissing as two of them went at it, chasing each other up and down the trees and over the fences. This stirred up the flock of turkeys, about 10, in the neighbors yard and they chimed in with their gobbling. As the fight died away, there was a flash of lightening and thunder followed. Hudson curled up more. Then came a burst of rain.

I must say I didn't sleep much, every thunder clap was followed by a group gobble. The lightning was like someone taking my picture all night. The bursts of rain provided a background hiss. Hudson slept like a baby.

This morning, the turkeys have gone to someone else's yard. But don't worry about them, they are well represented by the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), although from their web site it's not clear if they are being protected or targeted. Maybe they can organize a hunt, Hudson and I can guide.

Apologies

2009-09-11T09:25:00.000-07:00

This whole business with apologies is just a bunch of bull. These days the demands for apologies and the lame precrafted apologies that are delivered and the lamer pre(pre?)crafted acceptances are completely meaningless.

Some examples:

The British government wants the ex CEO of Rover to apologize for running the company into the ground, with government money, and he and his buddies taking huge compensation for doing it. (story). How about giving the money back? How about giving it to charity? Apology costs nothing, he keeps the money and moves on. Meanwhile the government spent 16 million pounds to investigate what happened. I'll tell you what happened, you got took, suckered, scammed. BTW, what's left of Rover is now in Chinese hands.

The U.S. Congress recently passed bills apologizing for slavery. I bet that makes everybody feel better. What does it do? How does this help anything? Actually if you read closer, the bills real purpose was to head off any move toward paying reparations. That means money spent, and we can't have that. Reparations would keep a lot of lawyers and do gooders busy for years. Somewhere in the Mormons genealogy databases in Utah I bet I could find enough proof so that I could get reparated too.

Apologizing to the Indians for their abuse has been a concept kicked around for a long time. In fact the Canadian government actually did. Not an overall apology but for a specific policy, that of sending Indian children to lousy schools. Does this help anyone? The kids are grown up are getting on with life, this apology is way wide of the mark.

Here's a classic, the Oakland airport apologized to the military after troops were not allowed to deplane during a two hour layover. Some soldiers were miffed because they had hoped to meet friends and relatives during the stop. This incident was spun as just another example of how California disrespects our fine military men and women. You can guess who did the spinning. So does Oakland feel shame over this problem and the world will be a better place? I doubt it, but somebody got to strut their ego.

In a recent flap, a Representative interrupted a Presidential speech by blurting out "You lie". He apologized to the President, our other president Rush Limbaugh blasted him for apologizing and now will have to apologize for blaming him for apologizing?

And speaking of my birthplace, Discovery channel has a new series coming out "Gang wars: Oakland". That sounds like fun. I wonder if the film crew went into the neighborhoods that that cops don't dare go into. Small problem with getting shot at. But even crooks love to be on TV. Should be a big hit, if we can love crab fishermen why not gang bangers?

Nirvana

2009-08-31T13:45:00.000-07:00

Remember that Buddha guy who claimed shedding all your desires is the way to happiness? Maybe he was right, I've just achieved true Nirvana myself. And I did it with a 52 inch TV, HD cable and a DVR. I'm recording the U.S. Open (tennis) on one channel while watching Barca play Sporting Gijon on the other, and recording that too! The wife will appreciate the tennis, and just now I was able to replay the lovely header that Keita (Mali) nodded in for a Barca goal. I was making a sandwich at the time, but didn't really miss a thing!

Added to all that, my plumbing career is over, at least for a while. Last task was to hacksaw off a sink faucet that was too rusted to unscrew and it must have been at least 30C in that upstairs bathroom. Dripping with sweat after a few minutes of that.

Just one feature I'd like on the DVR, when I'm watching a show why can't I fast forward into the future. I know this match is a replay, after all the game was played yesterday, so just let me skip halftime and I'll pick up from there. But then I would have missed yesterday's highlights which included a Kaka goal and Renaldo penalty kick. I guess those millions are already paying off for Real (big budget) Madrid.

In weather news, there is a huricane spinning up the eastern Pacific towards Baja. This will spin that famous tropical moisture up into eastern California (and Nevada and Arizona) creating heavy storms in the Sierra. Please be careful up there and don't get caught out without adequate equipment. Expect flash floods in the desert.

Why'd you get into this business?

2009-08-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

This morning I was at the rental house to replace the downstairs bathroom sink faucets. One was leaking pretty bad and they were all rusted. Simple, huh? Bought a new faucet set, got my attitude into shape, brought my tools and went over.

The faucet thing actually went pretty well, took out the old sink, cleaned it up and unpacked the new kit. This was going pretty well, except I was still worried about what might come. This is not a good attitude to have in a repair situation with a limited time line. The tenants would be back around noon, and I needed to be done, and gone. I needed confidence.

Putting the sink back in, I realized the plastic nut on the drain was spinning. Each turn resulted in a cracking noise at the broken nut slipped over the threads. This was the last simple part of the job. Why did I need this?

Collecting myself, I took the parts and went over to my local plumbing supply. Presented my broken p-trap to the counter guy. I said "I just want to get something like this, I want to get the simplest thing to make this work".

His answer "Why did you get into this business?".

Why indeed? On the one hand, I was a bit proud that he thought I was a professional instead of the fumbling amateur that I really am. Thinking more while he went out to cut the one foot 1 1/2 inch waste pipe that I needed, I realized what he meant. In plumbing you typically start off with a simple job and then since everything is connected to everything and some of the things are really old and rusty, it becomes very difficult to draw a line and just fix up to that point and beyond that it'll just have to stay the way it is. This is especially difficult since you know there are things over that line that will break at some time. But is that my job? Where's the responsibility?

I got the p-trap replaced, hooked up the supply with new washers and think that will work. But there is always something behind the wall. And the sink didn't sit perfectly flat with the new hookups. I wonder if that p-trap nut broke because of a similar stress over 10 years or more.

Back at home, I'll take a shower and think it over. I'm tired, contorting under a sink for a few hours is quite a workout.

Save 50% on your food budget

2009-08-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

There's a little known secret that the big guys don't want you to know! But I'll tell it to you for free! Not like those internet come-ons that want money up front for some worthless information that you already know. I'll give you, absolutely free, my proven method to reduce your food bill. Sometimes by as much as 50%!

You may have noticed that pretty much all food packages have a website address somewhere on the package. If you go to that website, there is sure to be a feedback page, sometimes these are hidden in the "contact us" area. Write a polite, detailed message regarding the product and why it was not satisfactory. If there's a lot number or other manufacturer code number on the package be sure to include that in your message, also include the store and date where the item was purchased. Remember, be polite, keep the message short and detailed.

Sit back and watch the coupons and free samples roll in! These companies will eagerly give you more product to make up for your dissatisfaction! Get your friends involved so that all the complaints are not just from one person. It's really fun! Remember, the product doesn't have to be unsatisfactory, anything goes! Everything you buy becomes "buy one get one free"!

Your results may vary. Stated results not typical. Side effect may include obesity and guilt. Must comply with manufacturer regulations. The U.S. Post Office is not to be used for fraudulent purposes. Jwilco Inc, p.o. box 40619, Normal, OK.

Hurricane Bill?

2009-08-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

Huh? I know this is the casual age where we all can call each other by first names or nicknames or "hey dude", but how can I respect a hurricane named "Bill". In fact this one is playing out exactly as expected due to lack of respect, "Hey dude, Bill's making some big surf up Long Island, let's go".

How about, "William's pounding the northeast with ten to twelve foot swells." Now that's the way a storm should work, not like "hey, Bill's coming over, you want to hang?".

On the home front, Ramadan has begun. All you good christians think that means the moslem crowd will be all pius and fasting and stuff. Wrong. What it really means is that after the sun goes down there will be party, party, party. To my mind it can't be much of a party without booze, but the ladies just love it. They all dress up to impress each other, brag about their kids, talk about who's gained weight, or maybe they're pregnant or blah, da blah.

On the trailing edge front that I live on, I've gotten interested in electronics and learned enough to begin to actually make or fix a few things. While trying to make a digital clock, I've realized that my power supply has a problem. I have been able to figure out what might fix it, so I need a couple of parts. Two 2200 uf 50v radial lead electrolytic capacitors and one 100 uf 35v cap too. Of course I'm not sure that will fix everything, but when I opened up the supply and found a melted part, at least it's a good try to replace it.

But, these days, going to the electronics store doesn't mean capacitors. It means big TV's, PC's, games and all kinds of crap. I could have bought a million bucks worth of those things and never learned anything. The local Fry's does have some components so I went to have a look. Sure enough there was the slot on the shelf for what I needed, but empty. I pawed through a couple boxes of stuff waiting to be put back on the racks, but I didn't find anything, I guess there's no incentive for the staff to actually have things available.

I can order online, but it's not the same to me. I want to rush over to the store, smile at the clerk and rush back home and make something work. If I need to go back, then I can trade a joke and get the next part. That makes me happy, not filling in web forms.

Modern day bike riding

2009-08-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

This morning I was out and about on what's becoming my usual short (1 hour) ride. After a brief stint on the trail dodging prams (I guess they're called strollers here) and dogs and what have you then I took off onto the local neighborhood streets. Much quieter, one of them is in fact named "Quiet Place Drive", can't beat that. School is still not open until next week so no mommy vans to contend with at this time in the morning. Very peaceful, the road smooth and cool.

Taking the Northbound trail, after the end of Walnut Avenue, along the canal, it was just me and a few walkers. In my mind I've named this stretch the "good morning" trail. Because most people that I meet take the time to say, or at least mumble, "good morning". I've noticed that these are generally older folks, the youngsters having I suppose gone off to work. I'm not sure whether it's because they just have the time, or because they were brought up in gentler times, but I really appreciate the greeting. I figure that I look like one of them too, especially when I haven't shaved for a few days, which is pretty normal, so with my gray stubble I am glad to return the gesture.

On the way back home, westbound, away from the sun, it's all downhill following the canal back towards my house. I noticed today a couple of examples of the latest in bike fashion, fixies. (as in fixed gear). We used to call them track bikes, stripped down to nothing. No gears, no brakes, as light as possible, built to be pushed around a banked track without any limitations. These two were made up from classic steel frames, one a Peugeot and the other a Schwinn. To slow down, you need to pedal backwards, or at least to push that way in hopes of stopping. The look is a bicycle about as clean as you can get.

I have a suitable Peugeot frame, but I don't think I could really take on one of these beauties. On the road or the track, my ability to take a crash is not what it used to be. In the meantime it's just great to get out in the morning and I do enjoy seeing those old frames getting the respect they deserve.

Enemy of Science

2009-08-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

I have begun to realize that science is it's own worst enemy. The problem is that the scientific method allows (requires) that the results of different experiments be published. So a question that has had results published on both sides becomes fertile ground for meaningless debate. This then becomes a political question, with each side emphasizing the results that fit their political views and ridiculing the other results.

A perfect example of this has resurfaced again in the question of whether to add fluoride to drinking water. The city of San Jose is now debating this question. I'm not sure how long this article will be live, but I'll give you the overview. The original premise is that fluoride in the water helps prevent tooth decay and that is a good thing.

The opposition has their basis in the view that anything the government does is an infringement on the rights of citizens and should not be allowed. So they bring up a host of studies that show that fluoride is of questionable value and can be an outright danger for people with certain medical conditions. One logical argument from this crowd is that if they want fluoride, then they will get it themselves.

The other side then points out that poor people with less education and money will not buy fluoride tablets and so the society as a whole will be stuck paying for their dental problems down the road.

One of the basic problems here is that there is no clear cut experiment, it's not possible to take two parts of a population and test this question. So we are left with studies. Each side in this debate can pick and choose pieces of study results and quote them to support their viewpoint. And even better, each side can bring up secret results that haven't been published, scientific results that have been muzzled, lawsuits that have not been heard, professional groups (like dentists) that have vested interests and all kinds of conspiracy theories.

At the end of these conspiracy arguments there are usually negative comments about the other political party. (see the comments attached to that article).

How are we to move ahead on these kind of issues? With Oprah believers not vaccinating their kids and all sorts of other madness going on, it's hard to imagine what progress can be made.

Mystery cooking

2009-08-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

With my wife, and sometimes me having lived various places, our pantry at home has some very puzzling items. There has been a box of Uncle Ben's rice on the top shelf for ages, I would have cooked it a long time ago, but the box is all written in Russian. At least I think that's what it is, lots of backward looking letters and accents. So today I just thought I should cook it, and I've started. Since American Uncle Ben's needs twenty minutes, then here we go. There is a little picture of an alarm clock with a 20 on the face, is that a clue? I wonder how old that box is anyway?

Last time the wife was in a place that would have Russian labeled food was quite a while ago. If it was Kazakhstan a while ago, if it was Azerbaijan, then a long time ago. Well, we'll see what happens. Maybe if I fry it with some egg it will be OK.

Meanwhile in America, Isn't it great how nobody ever does anything wrong? My late night TV buddy Billy Mays died and the autopsy found cocaine in his system. Did he really die? I see him on the tube just as much as usual. Anyway, the family is now saying that they noticed no sign of drug use and question the toxicology report and rebuke the coroner for releasing this information. Yes, they've got a lawyer and I guess a spokesperson, who says that "He was the model of a responsible citizen".

When I die can I have a spokesperson? What about a lawyer? Maybe not, I can't attract enough cash to bring in these sharks. Just let the guy go and shut up. I kind of enjoyed him doing his stick, let that be his memory, not the feeding frenzy of media and spokespeople. Next time I go to the county fair and see one of those pitch guys, I will stop and take a listen.

Power Cut!

2009-07-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

Right here in Walnut Creek, California. Kind of made me homesick, although only one appliance beeped when the power came back on. Kind of an anticlimax after getting used to a dozen or so different things announcing they were back on again.

It's now 30 days since I touched down in the good 'ol USA and I've roused myself to the point of looking through job listings. It's hard to tell if this will be easy or difficult. It certainly is hard to read some of the listings, things like: "Fluent in Klingon", "you must not be a dumb ass". I must admit to being less than interested in "dynamic, growing company in the social web space".

How about boring, solid company? Did you hear that Honda made a profit this quarter? Because they've always taken a measured approach to borrowing and expanding and concentrated on building decent cars perhaps? Maybe they have some openings.

Americans and soccer

2009-07-24T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm watching AC Milan vs. Chelsea in a a game in Baltimore, Maryland and now understand at least one reason why Americans don't like soccer. This is something called the "World Football Challenge", a tournament made up of European and Mexican teams, played in various American cities. That's fine. But the TV coverage makes it almost impossible to watch. They suck, suck, suck. They don't know the game, they don't know the players and most of all, they won't shut up.

I'm pretty lenient regarding sports commentators, after all I've been getting up early every morning to watch the Tour as announced by Phil Ligget and co.

Just watched Drogba put in a long distance shot into the upper left corner of the net, so maybe I'll soften my stance. What a shot! But please, if anyone wants soccer to be a success in the U.S., please take care of these other details. BTW, Mr. Drogba was awarded African Footballer of the year for 2008. Love to see him play.

Echoes of Africa

2009-07-21T11:02:00.001-07:00

One of the realities of living outside the U.S. is the realization that U.S. is not the center of the world. In a former British colony, like Nigeria, they still look to London. So my perspective has shifted too. Phone calls go through London, plane flights and TV channels come from there. ESPN sports center, that most American of productions, is a real hoot in the European version. You can either love or hate Tommy Smyth, I love him, but there's not any American equivalent at least since Howard Cosell.

I was tickled by this comment from the Manchester Guardian concerning the recent British open. Sentimental favorite Tom Watson (59) lost in the playoff to upstart Stewart Cink and with classic cutting understatement the columnist dismissed Cink with this comment.

"Anyone who uses his acceptance speech to thank his wife for introducing him to the Almighty so fits the stereotype of boring American God-bothering Republican-supporting lime-green-hat-and-shirt and cream-trouser wearing golfer he deserves all the indifference he gets."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Anyone for Biltong?

2009-07-16T10:41:00.000-07:00

If you had looked at my pictures, or whatever, you would have noticed that after visiting with all the animals, we went to Cape Town to be like regular tourists. For a tourist, South Africa is an interesting place. After all those issues with apartheid and sanctions and international acceptance you might suppose that you are visiting an integrated country and all get together and sing Kum Ba Yah . But as a white tourist you are not that likely to see many black people at all. As my daughter had said during our trip last year, "It's like Africa without any Africans". If you look closely, you will see blacks as maids, porters, bus boys, and other such invisible positions.

When you drive into Cape Town from the airport, there are some slums off the freeway, but they're pretty well hidden. In town, there is a thriving market around the bus station, but the guide books warn you to stay away. We had taken a cab from our hotel in Rosebank to Mandela Square in Sandton and since the driver was not that familiar with the area he dropped us off at what turned out to be the servants entrance. Rode up the lift with a group of blacks all wearing their uniforms for their respective menial jobs.

I just don't know what to make of it. It's pretty clear that racism is alive and well, but hidden now by politically correct speech and self selection. The current crop of politicians claim prestige based on how many years they had spent in prison during those dark years. President Zuma can only claim ten years on Robben Island, the next generation will have to claim new qualifications.

It's a beautiful country, and the people are as nice and helpful as any I've met. I wish them all the best for the future.